I can tell you the reason one customer didn't buy a new iMac during the season. The Apple store in Philadelphia refused to honor the 8% corporate discount it usually gives us on computers. If they denied us, they probably denied anyone else who usually gets a discount. In addition, they were sold out of the model we wanted. We were willing to upgrade to the "faster" model, but the deal fell apart when they would not honor the discount.
I can tell you the reason one customer didn't buy a new iMac during the season. The Apple store in Philadelphia refused to honor the 8% corporate discount it usually gives us on computers. If they denied us, they probably denied anyone else who usually gets a discount. In addition, they were sold out of the model we wanted. We were willing to upgrade to the "faster" model, but the deal fell apart when they would not honor the discount.
Guess what, someone else bought "your" iMac and did a double fist pump that they were able to get it.
Next quarter they might approach or cross $150 billion mark. I think it is just unprecedented. And most of the money is a return on an original investment into the iPhone. Could have been much better for Apple today, if they simply bought out all the multi-touch related patents before the original iPhone release. When they were cheap, when it was obvious for Apple how big this disruption is going to be, and not so obvious to anyone else.
1. overall profit margins are down notably. this is probably a permanent change. it reflects the impact of increased market competition from all directions.
2. the iPad mini is a big hit, and they still can't make them fast enough. but it also results in fewer big iPad sales and is a major reason for the overall lower profit margin.
3. the iPhone 5 is a big hit.
4. China will be a source of tremendous future growth for Apple (and some others too).
5. too soon to tell how Apple computer sales will trend in 2013 compared to overall market.
did they mention the growth in total iOS/iTunes user accounts? that is the important measure of the overall net growth of Apple ecosystem users.
1. overall profit margins are down notably. this is probably a permanent change. it reflects the impact of increased market competition from all directions.
I disagree with the cause and effect. Saturation at the higher levels appears to be a great reason than increased competition. If it was just increased competition there would be a lose of relative sales and discounted prices. Introducing a lower priced iPhone and iPad mini that use older components is a clear sign of adjusting for market saturation. We see the same thing with the Mac which I believe used to have an APR of $1400 and now it's $1100 despite Apple's market share increasing in the PC market.
This was the most interesting note from the conference call IMO:
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
iPhone 5 production was in constraint to start the December quarter, while the iPhone 4, which is available for free with a service contract, was constrained throughout the quarter.
This information combined with Verizon saying half of their iPhone sales were 4/4S is very interesting. People obviously want more affordable iPhones, but I think what makes the 4 a success is that it's an extremely beautiful high quality device that trumps anything else in the "Free" category.
I wonder if the "low cost" iPhone for China and other PAYG markets will simply be the iPhone 4. It's a great phone and I could see Apple selling it for $249 once the 5S comes out later this year.
Apple's profit margins are dropping, due to being forced by competitors.
Google and Amazon are very scary to Apple's bottom line because they don't give a crap about hardware profits. Google would put a nexus 7 in every cereal box if it could.
Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle fire HD, ect.. are all about getting people to buy more stuff and looking at ads.
But by far the biggest threat to Apple is the Telecom Subsidy economy going bust in the U.S.
Apple should be doing whatever it can to make sure T. mobiles plan of eliminating phone subsidy fails. Because if it does work and get adopted by the other telecoms, well that $600+ iphone is not going to cut it.
Apple's profit margins are dropping, due to being forced by competitors.
Google and Amazon are very scary to Apple's bottom line because they don't give a crap about hardware profits. Google would put a nexus 7 in every cereal box if it could.
Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle fire HD, ect.. are all about getting people to buy more stuff and looking at ads.
But by far the biggest threat to Apple is the Telecom Subsidy economy going bust in the U.S.
Apple should be doing whatever it can to make sure T. mobiles plan of eliminating phone subsidy fails. Because if it does work and get adopted by the other telecoms, well that $600+ iphone is not going to cut it.
For the consumer, there is no much of a difference between a subsidy and a partial credit (what T-Mobile seems to want to do) besides a choice to pay outright with lower monthly fees or get it cheap and pay more every month.
For the consumer, there is no much of a difference between a subsidy and a partial credit (what T-Mobile seems to want to do) besides a choice to pay outright with lower monthly fees or get it cheap and pay more every month.
Isn't that what European customers do now anyway?
I think the cost of an iPhone would be cheaper with such a plan than it is on Verizon or AT&T.
"Google would put a nexus 7 in every cereal box if it could!"
LOL! Reading this nearly made me blow the granola I was eating through my nose!
And it won't even end up with this.
Eventually I believe Google will even pay you to get a phone or a tablet (for example in a form of free or discounted Data access, Amazon does it already though Kindle's price is still above $0)
For the consumer, there is no much of a difference between a subsidy and a partial credit (what T-Mobile seems to want to do) besides a choice to pay outright with lower monthly fees or get it cheap and pay more every month.
when the nexus 4 is sitting at $299 base price at tmobile and the iphone is sitting at $650+ base price, it starts to show up in the bill,
The difference is buying a $299 phone outright and paying $30 a month, buying a phone a $299 for $200 base price and paying maybe $35 a month, buying a $650 outright iphone and paying 30 a month or buying a $650 iphone for $200 and paying $50 a month.
Apple is in a weird situation with U.S Telecoms, telecoms love and hate the iphone, but they mostly hate it.
Apple doesn't like telecoms much, but subsidy model that rules the U.S market, Apple loves (even though it hurts customers, higher monthly bills).
That is why U.S telecoms love to push cheap, crappy android phones on customers, they bend you over with monthly bill doesn't matter if you buy Apple or android, you pay the same bill.
U.S telecoms would love to end subsidy economy. It knee caps apple, who they don't like, makes people pay for their own phones, it also means they no longer have to negotiate long term contracts with Apple. Sprint no longer has to go to Apple and say we will give you "x" amount of money if you give us the iphone.
It helps the consumer, monthly bills drop, but it might also hurt the customer as product quality might drop, no more Iphone, samsung S3 ect.. just a bunch of budget smartphones, or it might destroy the ridiculous high profit margin of the likes of samsung of Apple. They would still make a profit but not the ridulous margins those companies have today.
Apple's profit margins are dropping, due to being forced by competitors.
Google and Amazon are very scary to Apple's bottom line because they don't give a crap about hardware profits. Google would put a nexus 7 in every cereal box if it could.
Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle fire HD, ect.. are all about getting people to buy more stuff and looking at ads.
But by far the biggest threat to Apple is the Telecom Subsidy economy going bust in the U.S.
Apple should be doing whatever it can to make sure T. mobiles plan of eliminating phone subsidy fails. Because if it does work and get adopted by the other telecoms, well that $600+ iphone is not going to cut it.
Very interesting post. Alarmist, but interesting. Yes, I was wondering about the subsidies going away. And Apple will be in a lurch. Tech moves fast now. My teenage daughter says that her and other teenagers don't use FB very much anymore. They are switching to other communication tools. FB is kind of a one trick pony.
Very interesting post. Alarmist, but interesting. Yes, I was wondering about the subsidies going away. And Apple will be in a lurch. Tech moves fast now. My teenage daughter says that her and other teenagers don't use FB very much anymore. They are switching to other communication tools. FB is kind of a one trick pony.
Facebook made the stupid mistake of doing what Aol did, its not building itself a giant moat, facebook is a google wannabe but it can't be google because google is already google.
With google you are competing with "Free" (not really free, you pay with personal data), facebook is also "free" but google has a higher return on the free stuff. Google free gets you (youtube, gmail, maps, search, android ect..) facebook free gets you well not that much.
Comments
Originally Posted by grayum
"Tim Cook maybe not such the good supply guy" CNBC Pundit.
So the last decade of his work leading Apple to insanely low operational costs and high revenue were… what?
Quote:
Originally Posted by emileg
I can tell you the reason one customer didn't buy a new iMac during the season. The Apple store in Philadelphia refused to honor the 8% corporate discount it usually gives us on computers. If they denied us, they probably denied anyone else who usually gets a discount. In addition, they were sold out of the model we wanted. We were willing to upgrade to the "faster" model, but the deal fell apart when they would not honor the discount.
Guess what, someone else bought "your" iMac and did a double fist pump that they were able to get it.
so, what did we learn of significance?
1. overall profit margins are down notably. this is probably a permanent change. it reflects the impact of increased market competition from all directions.
2. the iPad mini is a big hit, and they still can't make them fast enough. but it also results in fewer big iPad sales and is a major reason for the overall lower profit margin.
3. the iPhone 5 is a big hit.
4. China will be a source of tremendous future growth for Apple (and some others too).
5. too soon to tell how Apple computer sales will trend in 2013 compared to overall market.
did they mention the growth in total iOS/iTunes user accounts? that is the important measure of the overall net growth of Apple ecosystem users.
I disagree with the cause and effect. Saturation at the higher levels appears to be a great reason than increased competition. If it was just increased competition there would be a lose of relative sales and discounted prices. Introducing a lower priced iPhone and iPad mini that use older components is a clear sign of adjusting for market saturation. We see the same thing with the Mac which I believe used to have an APR of $1400 and now it's $1100 despite Apple's market share increasing in the PC market.
This was the most interesting note from the conference call IMO:
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
iPhone 5 production was in constraint to start the December quarter, while the iPhone 4, which is available for free with a service contract, was constrained throughout the quarter.
This information combined with Verizon saying half of their iPhone sales were 4/4S is very interesting. People obviously want more affordable iPhones, but I think what makes the 4 a success is that it's an extremely beautiful high quality device that trumps anything else in the "Free" category.
I wonder if the "low cost" iPhone for China and other PAYG markets will simply be the iPhone 4. It's a great phone and I could see Apple selling it for $249 once the 5S comes out later this year.
Apple's profit margins are dropping, due to being forced by competitors.
Google and Amazon are very scary to Apple's bottom line because they don't give a crap about hardware profits. Google would put a nexus 7 in every cereal box if it could.
Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle fire HD, ect.. are all about getting people to buy more stuff and looking at ads.
But by far the biggest threat to Apple is the Telecom Subsidy economy going bust in the U.S.
Apple should be doing whatever it can to make sure T. mobiles plan of eliminating phone subsidy fails. Because if it does work and get adopted by the other telecoms, well that $600+ iphone is not going to cut it.
LOL! Reading this nearly made me blow the granola I was eating through my nose!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Techstalker
Apple's profit margins are dropping, due to being forced by competitors.
Google and Amazon are very scary to Apple's bottom line because they don't give a crap about hardware profits. Google would put a nexus 7 in every cereal box if it could.
Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle fire HD, ect.. are all about getting people to buy more stuff and looking at ads.
But by far the biggest threat to Apple is the Telecom Subsidy economy going bust in the U.S.
Apple should be doing whatever it can to make sure T. mobiles plan of eliminating phone subsidy fails. Because if it does work and get adopted by the other telecoms, well that $600+ iphone is not going to cut it.
For the consumer, there is no much of a difference between a subsidy and a partial credit (what T-Mobile seems to want to do) besides a choice to pay outright with lower monthly fees or get it cheap and pay more every month.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jason98
For the consumer, there is no much of a difference between a subsidy and a partial credit (what T-Mobile seems to want to do) besides a choice to pay outright with lower monthly fees or get it cheap and pay more every month.
Isn't that what European customers do now anyway?
I think the cost of an iPhone would be cheaper with such a plan than it is on Verizon or AT&T.
Originally Posted by macart
LOL! Reading this nearly made me blow the granola I was eating through my nose!
Connie? Zazzles? Is that you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by macart
"Google would put a nexus 7 in every cereal box if it could!"
LOL! Reading this nearly made me blow the granola I was eating through my nose!
And it won't even end up with this.
Eventually I believe Google will even pay you to get a phone or a tablet (for example in a form of free or discounted Data access, Amazon does it already though Kindle's price is still above $0)
Quote:
Originally Posted by jason98
For the consumer, there is no much of a difference between a subsidy and a partial credit (what T-Mobile seems to want to do) besides a choice to pay outright with lower monthly fees or get it cheap and pay more every month.
when the nexus 4 is sitting at $299 base price at tmobile and the iphone is sitting at $650+ base price, it starts to show up in the bill,
The difference is buying a $299 phone outright and paying $30 a month, buying a phone a $299 for $200 base price and paying maybe $35 a month, buying a $650 outright iphone and paying 30 a month or buying a $650 iphone for $200 and paying $50 a month.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackbook
Isn't that what European customers do now anyway?
I think the cost of an iPhone would be cheaper with such a plan than it is on Verizon or AT&T.
It depends on the service charge they will choose. They could obviously tune it in such a way that service + principle + interest = VZ/ATT fees.
Apple is in a weird situation with U.S Telecoms, telecoms love and hate the iphone, but they mostly hate it.
Apple doesn't like telecoms much, but subsidy model that rules the U.S market, Apple loves (even though it hurts customers, higher monthly bills).
That is why U.S telecoms love to push cheap, crappy android phones on customers, they bend you over with monthly bill doesn't matter if you buy Apple or android, you pay the same bill.
U.S telecoms would love to end subsidy economy. It knee caps apple, who they don't like, makes people pay for their own phones, it also means they no longer have to negotiate long term contracts with Apple. Sprint no longer has to go to Apple and say we will give you "x" amount of money if you give us the iphone.
It helps the consumer, monthly bills drop, but it might also hurt the customer as product quality might drop, no more Iphone, samsung S3 ect.. just a bunch of budget smartphones, or it might destroy the ridiculous high profit margin of the likes of samsung of Apple. They would still make a profit but not the ridulous margins those companies have today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Techstalker
Apple's profit margins are dropping, due to being forced by competitors.
Google and Amazon are very scary to Apple's bottom line because they don't give a crap about hardware profits. Google would put a nexus 7 in every cereal box if it could.
Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle fire HD, ect.. are all about getting people to buy more stuff and looking at ads.
But by far the biggest threat to Apple is the Telecom Subsidy economy going bust in the U.S.
Apple should be doing whatever it can to make sure T. mobiles plan of eliminating phone subsidy fails. Because if it does work and get adopted by the other telecoms, well that $600+ iphone is not going to cut it.
Very interesting post. Alarmist, but interesting. Yes, I was wondering about the subsidies going away. And Apple will be in a lurch. Tech moves fast now. My teenage daughter says that her and other teenagers don't use FB very much anymore. They are switching to other communication tools. FB is kind of a one trick pony.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpamSandwich
Unsurprisingly, superdolt Gene (Herman) Munster just asked Tim Cook a TV question and Tim slapped him down. LMAO!
Better yet... you'll really love this link (before clicking be sure to make a promise to yourself not to break your monitor):
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100402531
Quote:
Originally Posted by pfisher
Very interesting post. Alarmist, but interesting. Yes, I was wondering about the subsidies going away. And Apple will be in a lurch. Tech moves fast now. My teenage daughter says that her and other teenagers don't use FB very much anymore. They are switching to other communication tools. FB is kind of a one trick pony.
Facebook made the stupid mistake of doing what Aol did, its not building itself a giant moat, facebook is a google wannabe but it can't be google because google is already google.
With google you are competing with "Free" (not really free, you pay with personal data), facebook is also "free" but google has a higher return on the free stuff. Google free gets you (youtube, gmail, maps, search, android ect..) facebook free gets you well not that much.