I can never forgive Steve Jobs for his continued insistence on having ATT as the carrier for iPhone. The iPhone is a great piece of technology made into a joke by ATTs shoddy network. It is the equivalent of going to a fine restaurant and being served up a real nice steak on a trashcan lid.
The only other solution would have been T-Mobile, their network and corporate backing would not have been able to support the traffic either. And, don't suggest Verizon, you might as well suggest that Apple run Windows and drop OS X. Apple picked the technology with the greatest Market Share World Wide and then made only ONE phone model (with different capacities) thereby maximizing return on investment as opposed to fragmenting their offerings and increasing costs by supporting differing technologies and providing different models for different markets. China is a great example of what would have happened had they done that. They made a custom model to support the Chinese Government restrictions and have sold just north of 100K units compared to the Millions of unrestricted grey market phones in the country.
You claim to be a shareholder, so I'm curious why you would want the stock to split. You do realize how stock splits work, right? Double the shares, but half the value per share. You're right back where you started, except now the stock is cheaper and there's more volatility. Ask Google or Berkshire Hathaway about stock splitting. Sorry to hear whatever mental block you have which makes you think two $100 shares is somehow better than one $200 share.
It's not my mental block, but conventional wisdom says that the market likes to see more "affordable" stock and that there's a sweet spot for the equity in question. Anyhow, please look at other replies to your comment.
I purchased my shares just before Apple split the stock the last time and they seem to have done quite nicely. Apple has not backed away from splitting shares, but it looks like they have chosen to move to a higher price window.
It is curious that you mentioned Google and Berkshire Hathaway, as I own shares in both of those companies as well.
I don't actually know what Google's stance on stock splits is; no one outside of Google does because they won't comment on it. I bought around 300 and they are trading near 600. In any case, my ROI on Google is nothing like my ROI on Apple.
I will also mention that if you are a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder of Class B stock, you should have recently received a proxy ballot: the board is proposing a 50-to-1 split of the Class B shares.
There are several reasons why Berkshire Hathaway wants to split the Class B shares. One reason stated by Warren himself was to give small fry investors of Burlington Northern (pending acquisition target and S&P 500 component) a piece of Berkshire Hathaway. Naturally, this affordability would affect any retail investor. This drives up trading volume and makes Berkshire Hathaway a more convincing candidate to be on the S&P 500 itself. That would force index funds to add shares which would also increase trading traffic.
I can never forgive Steve Jobs for his continued insistence on having ATT as the carrier for iPhone. The iPhone is a great piece of technology made into a joke by ATTs shoddy network. It is the equivalent of going to a fine restaurant and being served up a real nice steak on a trashcan lid.
It's probably because he had no choice in the beginning.
It was a new market for Apple, it was a risk for AT&T.
It could have flopped.
The carriers are in competition with each other, they don't like someone who is working both camps.
Now the iPhone is very popular, AT&T is overloaded, they can't expect Apple to remain solely on their network.
The iPhone has outgrown one carrier, it's time for it to be universal.
Apple could only get this way through strength, to be able to make deals across the board.
The only other solution would have been T-Mobile, their network and corporate backing would not have been able to support the traffic either. And, don't suggest Verizon, you might as well suggest that Apple run Windows and drop OS X. Apple picked the technology with the greatest Market Share World Wide and then made only ONE phone model (with different capacities) thereby maximizing return on investment as opposed to fragmenting their offerings and increasing costs by supporting differing technologies and providing different models for different markets. China is a great example of what would have happened had they done that. They made a custom model to support the Chinese Government restrictions and have sold just north of 100K units compared to the Millions of unrestricted grey market phones in the country.
It would have not been hard at all to build a model compatible with Verizon and would have cost peanuts to do so.
You’ve out-hyperlinked Quadra. I think that may be seen as a challenge to him.
I doubt it. Quadra, like myself appreciates backing up our statements. Unfortunately, it isn't reciprocated enough.
I learn a lot from digging deeper, particularly reading news sites. Sound bites are just too small to base your future on. And as we have seen, everybody has their own dictionary.
And much help to guys like Quadra for providing their resources. Actually, I will click most links. A lot can be determined how a person thinks by what they read and/or profess to base their sources.
I guess it comes from having to cite the literature in virtually everything I do.
Excuse the fact that some of these may be duplicated somewhat. It has been awhile since I reviewed them last. In any event, I would consider them well worth watching. And perhaps doing so, there just maybe enough for some to appreciate what some have done and not a nefarious as some portray.
Doesn't he deserve some kind of award, too? I mean, he is kinda indirectly responsible for Apple's recent success, too.
By the way, how did those "Laptop Hunter" ads go for ya, Microsoft? All they did was tell everyone what they already knew: Macs are cooler and more expensive than cheap crap.
That has got to be the stupidest campaign ever, even stupider than the shoe store one with Seinfeld.
Of course I am a pc and 7 was my idea is pretty inane too. The whole idea of just copying your competitors award winning slogan is pretty stupid...but wait...copying?ms? never.
I doubt it. Quadra, like myself appreciates backing up our statements. Unfortunately, it isn't reciprocated enough.
I learn a lot from digging deeper, particularly reading news sites. Sound bites are just too small to base your future on. And as we have seen, everybody has their own dictionary.
And much help to guys like Quadra for providing their resources. Actually, I will click most links. A lot can be determined how a person thinks by what they read and/or profess to base their sources.
I guess it comes from having to cite the literature in virtually everything I do.
It's probably because he had no choice in the beginning.
It was a new market for Apple, it was a risk for AT&T.
It could have flopped.
The carriers are in competition with each other, they don't like someone who is working both camps.
Now the iPhone is very popular, AT&T is overloaded, they can't expect Apple to remain solely on their network.
The iPhone has outgrown one carrier, it's time for it to be universal.
Apple could only get this way through strength, to be able to make deals across the board.
Trip, I have to do some digging on this but back after 1st gen iPhone was announced it was brought to light that Apple had in fact offered it to Verizon first. The primary speculation centered around a combination of hubris on both parts - Apple insisting on ownership of the hardware, OS and software (let Verizon be the "carrier" and provide visual voicemail), and Verizon considering a product not yet in production, a vague mock-up with a set of features, and an Apple hubris that ran exactly counter to their business model (lock-down phone OS features, pick-and-choose a limited set of hardware platforms, and limit data usage on their network). They were the number one carrier - they had no reason to risk anything on a newcomer to the game - especially one with a checkered past and no effective experience in the mobile market - and no interest in low-cost commodity phones.
You are looking at this entirely too US-centric. Apple is cutting broad deals with multiple carriers around the globe. The rest of the globe is largely on GSM technology - only Verizon and Sprint are using the aging and minority CDMA technology. If Apple can get Asia in general to buy into the iPhone they will market to a majority of the globe - dwarfing the US market and making Verizon problematic.
On the other hand, if there is a way that Apple can use the latest universal chipsets to its advantage (lower power consumption than past chipsets - competitive or better than current GSM-only chipsets price points), AND get an agreement with Verizon on the table, then I could see them re-addressing their offer to Verizon.
The other question that remains is one that is largely evolutionary: will the iPhone technology set overtake RIM and/or Nokia/Symbian in smartphones, or will it simply establish a strong percentage and force up-and-comers like Palm and Android to fight a three-front battle to establish marketshare, with Microsoft trying to claw up their backsides to re-establish its own marketshare? How many "predators" can any given ecosystem support without wiping out the system through imbalances or "over-predation"?
My main hope is that Apple doesn't wipe out Microsoft as much as Microsoft did Apple, because I happen to like Windows (which is pretty much suicide on the AppleInsider forums, I know).
My main hope is that Apple doesn't wipe out Microsoft as much as Microsoft did Apple, because I happen to like Windows (which is pretty much suicide on the AppleInsider forums, I know).
1) Apple nearly wiped themselves out as proven by Apple’s resurgence from their $5B market cap in the last 90s.
2) Unless Apple changes their business model to allow the licensing of Mac OS X on other vendor’s PCs then MS has no threat of losing their windows dominance to Apple. Even if Apple was the largest PC retailer in the world with a 25% market share, which HP currently has, that would still only be 25% of the OS marketshare leaving near 75% for Windows.
3) You shouldn’t be lambasted for liking Windows. It’s the hyperbolic, generalizations that are rightly pilloried. The same goes for the other end of the spectrum, too.
3) You shouldn?t lambasted for liking Windows. It?s the hyperbolic, generalizations that are rightly pilloried. The same goes for the other end of the spectrum, too.
While most people do not have the bias that is as the generalization that I spoke of, there is a certain "mob" quality to the Internet, causing people to be hyperbolic in persecution of ideas that differ from the status quo in their section. In an ideal world in which people spoke how they truly felt instead of what they thought as accepted there wouldn't be this kind of thought, but unfortunately, it happens all too often.
While most people do not have the bias that is as the generalization that I spoke of, there is a certain "mob" quality to the Internet, causing people to be hyperbolic in persecution of ideas that differ from the status quo in their section. In an ideal world in which people spoke how they truly felt instead of what they thought as accepted there wouldn't be this kind of thought, but unfortunately, it happens all too often.
I know what you are talking about but overall I’d say this site is pretty balanced and objective by many of the longtime members. So far you’ve stated nothing in anger, exaggerated nor made claims of facts that you’ve failed to back up that would incite rationale readers to attack you.
People tend to hate on the Zune but I think it’s best PMP HW, UI and ecosystem outside of the iPod/iTunes. I don’t recall anyone agreeing with me on that but I also don’t recall being attacked for it either. So post away, opinions and all
I prefer Mac OS X over Windows any day but Windows has its place and can’t be displaced by Mac OS X with current business models. If anything is going to take a chunk of Windows’ market share I think it will be Chrome OS, though I don’t see it affecting their profits since Chrome OS will simply be filling up the profitless bottom tier and moving into new OS territory with internet-capable TVs and cable boxes, etc. We’ll know in a year or so if Chrome OS has a chance.
It's not my mental block, but conventional wisdom says that the market likes to see more "affordable" stock and that there's a sweet spot for the equity in question.
All very well-deserved accolades for Mr. Jobs. Love or hate Apple, love or hate Jobs, the results speak for themselves.
Steve is thevman.just want tinknow where all the bad news is. Stories like this are normallybafter some leak of terrible news. Like when there are reports if new holiday stuff followed the next day by an apple statement saying thus is it (sure sure they don't read rumor sites),,in factv there was a huge artickle not to long ago how apple saves millions by using rumors and proven when schiller shows up right after new holiday rumors LOL.
Be safe all.
Wife and really praying for a new job for me. (So i can get the mac pro LOL), but seriosly, somewhat ill and can't lose my insurance. So appreciate any kind words, prayers, vibes sent this way. We are ai due for good fortune. It's been much to long. Appreciate it.
It's amazing what you can do when you build a solid simple product line, with products that have great design and actually work, sell them at reasonable prices and provide good support.
ATT ... can you hear me now? Nope. Still don't have 3G.
If anything is going to take a chunk of Windows? market share I think it will be Chrome OS, though I don?t see it affecting their profits since Chrome OS will simply be filling up the profitless bottom tier and moving into new OS territory with internet-capable TVs and cable boxes, etc. We?ll know in a year or so if Chrome OS has a chance.
I'll believe it when I see it.
And more than a year. Chrome OS isn't slated to be on machines until about this time next year.
Google Chrome OS is not a conventional operating system that you can download or buy on a disc and install. As a consumer, the way you will get Google Chrome OS is by buying a netbook that has Google Chrome OS installed by the OEM. Google Chrome OS is being developed to run on new machines that are specially optimized for increased security and performance. We are working with manufacturers to develop reference hardware for Google Chrome OS. These netbooks will be available in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Emphasis mine.
Oh and congrats to Steve Jobs who's done a masterful job at heading Apple since his 1997 return.
It will signal nothing of the kind. What will signal diminished growth opportunities is diminished growth.
There you go again, making sweeping, unequivocal assertions.
I would recommend your looking at (a very considerable) financial economics literature on dividends. On average, dividend paying firms tend to have fewer growth opportunities, lower P/E ratios, and lower M/B ratios than non-dividend payers.
It is not an accident that 'value' portfolios tend to be heavily populated by dividend-paying companies, but 'growth' portfolios non-dividend paying.
If the argument is for Apple returning money to shareholders -- which would be a fine goal -- there are better ways to do it. Share repurchase, or a special (large) one-time dividend. Initiation of 'regular' dividends is normally viewed as an irriversible commitment by markets.
Oh, you can look up any basic finance textbook for these insights.
Comments
In all fairness, this is a better perspective on 'A Question of Taste' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBISzVRmYIM&NR=1
and this as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSt5j...eature=related
and then there is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhjVi...eature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FytWjEd2gcg&NR=1
You?ve out-hyperlinked Quadra. I think that may be seen as a challenge to him.
I can never forgive Steve Jobs for his continued insistence on having ATT as the carrier for iPhone. The iPhone is a great piece of technology made into a joke by ATTs shoddy network. It is the equivalent of going to a fine restaurant and being served up a real nice steak on a trashcan lid.
The only other solution would have been T-Mobile, their network and corporate backing would not have been able to support the traffic either. And, don't suggest Verizon, you might as well suggest that Apple run Windows and drop OS X. Apple picked the technology with the greatest Market Share World Wide and then made only ONE phone model (with different capacities) thereby maximizing return on investment as opposed to fragmenting their offerings and increasing costs by supporting differing technologies and providing different models for different markets. China is a great example of what would have happened had they done that. They made a custom model to support the Chinese Government restrictions and have sold just north of 100K units compared to the Millions of unrestricted grey market phones in the country.
You claim to be a shareholder, so I'm curious why you would want the stock to split. You do realize how stock splits work, right? Double the shares, but half the value per share. You're right back where you started, except now the stock is cheaper and there's more volatility. Ask Google or Berkshire Hathaway about stock splitting. Sorry to hear whatever mental block you have which makes you think two $100 shares is somehow better than one $200 share.
It's not my mental block, but conventional wisdom says that the market likes to see more "affordable" stock and that there's a sweet spot for the equity in question. Anyhow, please look at other replies to your comment.
I purchased my shares just before Apple split the stock the last time and they seem to have done quite nicely. Apple has not backed away from splitting shares, but it looks like they have chosen to move to a higher price window.
It is curious that you mentioned Google and Berkshire Hathaway, as I own shares in both of those companies as well.
I don't actually know what Google's stance on stock splits is; no one outside of Google does because they won't comment on it. I bought around 300 and they are trading near 600. In any case, my ROI on Google is nothing like my ROI on Apple.
I will also mention that if you are a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder of Class B stock, you should have recently received a proxy ballot: the board is proposing a 50-to-1 split of the Class B shares.
There are several reasons why Berkshire Hathaway wants to split the Class B shares. One reason stated by Warren himself was to give small fry investors of Burlington Northern (pending acquisition target and S&P 500 component) a piece of Berkshire Hathaway. Naturally, this affordability would affect any retail investor. This drives up trading volume and makes Berkshire Hathaway a more convincing candidate to be on the S&P 500 itself. That would force index funds to add shares which would also increase trading traffic.
I can never forgive Steve Jobs for his continued insistence on having ATT as the carrier for iPhone. The iPhone is a great piece of technology made into a joke by ATTs shoddy network. It is the equivalent of going to a fine restaurant and being served up a real nice steak on a trashcan lid.
It's probably because he had no choice in the beginning.
It was a new market for Apple, it was a risk for AT&T.
It could have flopped.
The carriers are in competition with each other, they don't like someone who is working both camps.
Now the iPhone is very popular, AT&T is overloaded, they can't expect Apple to remain solely on their network.
The iPhone has outgrown one carrier, it's time for it to be universal.
Apple could only get this way through strength, to be able to make deals across the board.
thanks, now just go away.
Your ignored now, try it, it's in your user CP
don't forget the name MacTripper, you'll need that.
see ya.
The only other solution would have been T-Mobile, their network and corporate backing would not have been able to support the traffic either. And, don't suggest Verizon, you might as well suggest that Apple run Windows and drop OS X. Apple picked the technology with the greatest Market Share World Wide and then made only ONE phone model (with different capacities) thereby maximizing return on investment as opposed to fragmenting their offerings and increasing costs by supporting differing technologies and providing different models for different markets. China is a great example of what would have happened had they done that. They made a custom model to support the Chinese Government restrictions and have sold just north of 100K units compared to the Millions of unrestricted grey market phones in the country.
It would have not been hard at all to build a model compatible with Verizon and would have cost peanuts to do so.
You’ve out-hyperlinked Quadra. I think that may be seen as a challenge to him.
I doubt it. Quadra, like myself appreciates backing up our statements. Unfortunately, it isn't reciprocated enough.
I learn a lot from digging deeper, particularly reading news sites. Sound bites are just too small to base your future on. And as we have seen, everybody has their own dictionary.
And much help to guys like Quadra for providing their resources. Actually, I will click most links. A lot can be determined how a person thinks by what they read and/or profess to base their sources.
I guess it comes from having to cite the literature in virtually everything I do.
P.S., Forgot Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scf6d...eature=related
and Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCvLTlQWT6A&NR=1
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuhHIqJyjY0&NR=1
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf9jv...eature=related
Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IzxF...eature=related
Part 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IzxF...eature=related
Part 9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM8K1yexO6s&feature=fvw
Part 10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGH-1...eature=related
Part 11: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQwhb...eature=related
Excuse the fact that some of these may be duplicated somewhat. It has been awhile since I reviewed them last. In any event, I would consider them well worth watching. And perhaps doing so, there just maybe enough for some to appreciate what some have done and not a nefarious as some portray.
Doesn't he deserve some kind of award, too? I mean, he is kinda indirectly responsible for Apple's recent success, too.
By the way, how did those "Laptop Hunter" ads go for ya, Microsoft? All they did was tell everyone what they already knew: Macs are cooler and more expensive than cheap crap.
That has got to be the stupidest campaign ever, even stupider than the shoe store one with Seinfeld.
Of course I am a pc and 7 was my idea is pretty inane too. The whole idea of just copying your competitors award winning slogan is pretty stupid...but wait...copying?ms? never.
check out steve's commencement speech too.
I doubt it. Quadra, like myself appreciates backing up our statements. Unfortunately, it isn't reciprocated enough.
I learn a lot from digging deeper, particularly reading news sites. Sound bites are just too small to base your future on. And as we have seen, everybody has their own dictionary.
And much help to guys like Quadra for providing their resources. Actually, I will click most links. A lot can be determined how a person thinks by what they read and/or profess to base their sources.
I guess it comes from having to cite the literature in virtually everything I do.
P.S., Forgot Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scf6d...eature=related
and Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCvLTlQWT6A&NR=1
It's probably because he had no choice in the beginning.
It was a new market for Apple, it was a risk for AT&T.
It could have flopped.
The carriers are in competition with each other, they don't like someone who is working both camps.
Now the iPhone is very popular, AT&T is overloaded, they can't expect Apple to remain solely on their network.
The iPhone has outgrown one carrier, it's time for it to be universal.
Apple could only get this way through strength, to be able to make deals across the board.
Trip, I have to do some digging on this but back after 1st gen iPhone was announced it was brought to light that Apple had in fact offered it to Verizon first. The primary speculation centered around a combination of hubris on both parts - Apple insisting on ownership of the hardware, OS and software (let Verizon be the "carrier" and provide visual voicemail), and Verizon considering a product not yet in production, a vague mock-up with a set of features, and an Apple hubris that ran exactly counter to their business model (lock-down phone OS features, pick-and-choose a limited set of hardware platforms, and limit data usage on their network). They were the number one carrier - they had no reason to risk anything on a newcomer to the game - especially one with a checkered past and no effective experience in the mobile market - and no interest in low-cost commodity phones.
You are looking at this entirely too US-centric. Apple is cutting broad deals with multiple carriers around the globe. The rest of the globe is largely on GSM technology - only Verizon and Sprint are using the aging and minority CDMA technology. If Apple can get Asia in general to buy into the iPhone they will market to a majority of the globe - dwarfing the US market and making Verizon problematic.
On the other hand, if there is a way that Apple can use the latest universal chipsets to its advantage (lower power consumption than past chipsets - competitive or better than current GSM-only chipsets price points), AND get an agreement with Verizon on the table, then I could see them re-addressing their offer to Verizon.
The other question that remains is one that is largely evolutionary: will the iPhone technology set overtake RIM and/or Nokia/Symbian in smartphones, or will it simply establish a strong percentage and force up-and-comers like Palm and Android to fight a three-front battle to establish marketshare, with Microsoft trying to claw up their backsides to re-establish its own marketshare? How many "predators" can any given ecosystem support without wiping out the system through imbalances or "over-predation"?
My main hope is that Apple doesn't wipe out Microsoft as much as Microsoft did Apple, because I happen to like Windows (which is pretty much suicide on the AppleInsider forums, I know).
1) Apple nearly wiped themselves out as proven by Apple’s resurgence from their $5B market cap in the last 90s.
2) Unless Apple changes their business model to allow the licensing of Mac OS X on other vendor’s PCs then MS has no threat of losing their windows dominance to Apple. Even if Apple was the largest PC retailer in the world with a 25% market share, which HP currently has, that would still only be 25% of the OS marketshare leaving near 75% for Windows.
3) You shouldn’t be lambasted for liking Windows. It’s the hyperbolic, generalizations that are rightly pilloried. The same goes for the other end of the spectrum, too.
3) You shouldn?t lambasted for liking Windows. It?s the hyperbolic, generalizations that are rightly pilloried. The same goes for the other end of the spectrum, too.
While most people do not have the bias that is as the generalization that I spoke of, there is a certain "mob" quality to the Internet, causing people to be hyperbolic in persecution of ideas that differ from the status quo in their section. In an ideal world in which people spoke how they truly felt instead of what they thought as accepted there wouldn't be this kind of thought, but unfortunately, it happens all too often.
While most people do not have the bias that is as the generalization that I spoke of, there is a certain "mob" quality to the Internet, causing people to be hyperbolic in persecution of ideas that differ from the status quo in their section. In an ideal world in which people spoke how they truly felt instead of what they thought as accepted there wouldn't be this kind of thought, but unfortunately, it happens all too often.
I know what you are talking about but overall I’d say this site is pretty balanced and objective by many of the longtime members. So far you’ve stated nothing in anger, exaggerated nor made claims of facts that you’ve failed to back up that would incite rationale readers to attack you.
People tend to hate on the Zune but I think it’s best PMP HW, UI and ecosystem outside of the iPod/iTunes. I don’t recall anyone agreeing with me on that but I also don’t recall being attacked for it either. So post away, opinions and all
I prefer Mac OS X over Windows any day but Windows has its place and can’t be displaced by Mac OS X with current business models. If anything is going to take a chunk of Windows’ market share I think it will be Chrome OS, though I don’t see it affecting their profits since Chrome OS will simply be filling up the profitless bottom tier and moving into new OS territory with internet-capable TVs and cable boxes, etc. We’ll know in a year or so if Chrome OS has a chance.
Not sure about that. Will signal that is has become a 'value' stock, with diminished growth opportunities.
It will signal nothing of the kind. What will signal diminished growth opportunities is diminished growth.
It's not my mental block, but conventional wisdom says that the market likes to see more "affordable" stock and that there's a sweet spot for the equity in question.
This is neither wise, nor conventional.
All very well-deserved accolades for Mr. Jobs. Love or hate Apple, love or hate Jobs, the results speak for themselves.
Steve is thevman.just want tinknow where all the bad news is. Stories like this are normallybafter some leak of terrible news. Like when there are reports if new holiday stuff followed the next day by an apple statement saying thus is it (sure sure they don't read rumor sites),,in factv there was a huge artickle not to long ago how apple saves millions by using rumors and proven when schiller shows up right after new holiday rumors LOL.
Be safe all.
Wife and really praying for a new job for me. (So i can get the mac pro LOL), but seriosly, somewhat ill and can't lose my insurance. So appreciate any kind words, prayers, vibes sent this way. We are ai due for good fortune. It's been much to long. Appreciate it.
It's amazing what you can do when you build a solid simple product line, with products that have great design and actually work, sell them at reasonable prices and provide good support.
ATT ... can you hear me now? Nope. Still don't have 3G.
everything but the reasonable prices part.
If anything is going to take a chunk of Windows? market share I think it will be Chrome OS, though I don?t see it affecting their profits since Chrome OS will simply be filling up the profitless bottom tier and moving into new OS territory with internet-capable TVs and cable boxes, etc. We?ll know in a year or so if Chrome OS has a chance.
I'll believe it when I see it.
And more than a year. Chrome OS isn't slated to be on machines until about this time next year.
http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/.../developer-faq
Google Chrome OS is not a conventional operating system that you can download or buy on a disc and install. As a consumer, the way you will get Google Chrome OS is by buying a netbook that has Google Chrome OS installed by the OEM. Google Chrome OS is being developed to run on new machines that are specially optimized for increased security and performance. We are working with manufacturers to develop reference hardware for Google Chrome OS. These netbooks will be available in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Emphasis mine.
Oh and congrats to Steve Jobs who's done a masterful job at heading Apple since his 1997 return.
It will signal nothing of the kind. What will signal diminished growth opportunities is diminished growth.
There you go again, making sweeping, unequivocal assertions.
I would recommend your looking at (a very considerable) financial economics literature on dividends. On average, dividend paying firms tend to have fewer growth opportunities, lower P/E ratios, and lower M/B ratios than non-dividend payers.
It is not an accident that 'value' portfolios tend to be heavily populated by dividend-paying companies, but 'growth' portfolios non-dividend paying.
If the argument is for Apple returning money to shareholders -- which would be a fine goal -- there are better ways to do it. Share repurchase, or a special (large) one-time dividend. Initiation of 'regular' dividends is normally viewed as an irriversible commitment by markets.
Oh, you can look up any basic finance textbook for these insights.