Apple CEO Tim Cook on Android growth: 'Success is not making the most'

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  • Reply 61 of 201
    They need to be careful there. This kind of reasoning is what led to the Mac's failure under Sculley's "leadership". They didn't care about market share or shipping units; they just cared about margins and profits. By that gauge, they were more successful than their competitors; unfortunately, it got to a point where technical superiority was no longer enough for developers to justify ignoring the juicy PC market. Cool innovations went from being Mac-only (like the original QuickCam) to being Mac-first, then PC or Windows first, then Windows-only.
    I'm hoping Apple's current leadership is careful not to repeat these mistakes.
    Right now, the only thing that's preventing most developers to release cool new stuff on Android first is the market fragmentation, but that's not going to last forever. You better believe that Google is working very hard on addressing this problem.
  • Reply 62 of 201

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by netrox View Post



    but that's not what shareholders want to hear.. they only care about making more money.


     


    Then we have a contradiction in terms. With 69% of the mobile profits, Apple is acknowledging a finite resource: Profits. Growing and diluting their profit margins to pamper to an idea that this finite resource will manifest into orders of more profit and thus make these shareholders even larger sums of money is a mathematical fallacy.


     


    By putting this falsehood of cheap phones == market share == profits to rest for the embedded world of computing Apple is steering its course and being true to its founder's vision. The same vision that created all of this success.


     


    Investors have raised the stock back up past 450 by close.

  • Reply 63 of 201

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Steve is no longer with us so we don't know what his opinion would be now. Just as in life your perspective changes as you get older. All the rich people already have smartphones. Do you just want to sell them another one every two years or do you change your focus to match the changing times? It's all well and good to say you are not interested in market share so long as you already have a decent slice of the pie, but if the share starts to decline, eventually you will reach a tipping point where market share REALLY matters. They don't need to be obsessed with market share but to be completely disinterested I think is a mistake. China is the new battle ground, and although they have a rising middle class there is definitely a need for a cheaper phone for their masses. The older version iPhones are not a good fit for the Chinese as they don't even work on the country's largest carrier. A smaller less expensive, less full featured iPhone would be a huge hit in the developing world.



     


    Then you're less astute than you get yourself credit for being. Steve has kept the same vision since he founded Apple. Quality products will drive healthy profits allowing Apple to continue innovating and pushing the boundaries of the information industrial revolution. Apple was Steve's chance to drive this through in a balanced, more pragmatic approach, while not compromising on quality and vision. NeXT was the experiment to push the boundaries too far. Apple today is the culmination of focused innovation in a few key areas to maturity and then use that collective experience to drive new markets while continuing the mature markets.

  • Reply 64 of 201
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by phalanx View Post




    They have to innovate faster.   They have to turn new phones and tablets faster.   They are well behind their competition.  Only thing that is saving them is that they have so many people "pregnant" embedded into their ecosystem that people are currently unwilling to switch.  But, that day is slowly waning.   They also need to come up with new products.   ....They "milk" slight changes now like they will change your life.  Siri is a perfect example.  Yeah, it is neat, but most people stop using it after a while.   There maps thing is embracing.  Steve would have handled that whole thing differently.     They need to go faster.


    .



     


    The sheer amount of stupidity in that post literally gave me a headache. What "competition" are they behind, exactly? Please, jump ship now and spare us more of your concern-trolling whining. 


     


    "There maps thing is embracing"


     


    No, what's "embracing" is the sheer amount of spelling and grammatical errors in those 5 words. How do people like you not get banned? 

  • Reply 65 of 201
    melgross wrote: »
    I think that Apple should be more flexible. A much less expensive phone is needed around the world, and possibly, even here. They might also need to figure out a way to have a less expensive 8" tablet.

    In addition, they've got to adopt more strategies towards the market. Avertising is small when compared to Samsung. $14 billion in total for Samsung last year compared to about $1 billion for Apple. It's aking a big part of the difference in sales.

    For those who believe that marketshare is worthless, I'll say that it's not. As the market shifts, so do developers. This isn't speculation, it's fact.

    I'd also like to see Macbook Airs at $899. Mini's at $599, and iMac's at $999. Except for Air's, they've been there before. There's no reason why they can't be there again.

    And yet iOS has the developers and the profits. This is not like the PC vs Mac comparisons back in the day. They have a lot of markets hare, just not the majority.
  • Reply 66 of 201
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Then you're less astute than you get yourself credit for being. Steve has kept the same vision since he founded Apple. Quality products will drive healthy profits allowing Apple to continue innovating and pushing the boundaries of the information industrial revolution. Apple was Steve's chance to drive this through in a balanced, more pragmatic approach, while not compromising on quality and vision. NeXT was the experiment to push the boundaries too far. Apple today is the culmination of focused innovation in a few key areas to maturity and then use that collective experience to drive new markets while continuing the mature markets.



    I think times have changed. Traditionally Apple has always targeted the economically well off market segment. My Mac II fx cost nearly $10k after adding a hard drive, monitor and some RAM. I also had one of the very first cell phones which cost north of $3k. Today even the guy who begs on the freeway ramp with a God Bless sign has a cell phone.

  • Reply 67 of 201


    The market is skyrocketing today, but AAPL is like the only stock in red! Everything is up, except AAPL! Great job Tim Cook! You're the man!

  • Reply 68 of 201

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macxpress View Post


     


    Even Steve Jobs has stated more than a few times they aren't interested in market share numbers.



    Yeah and the fox stated that the grapes are sour!

  • Reply 69 of 201
    cgr111 wrote: »
    I am tired of hearing Tim Cook repeating the same mantra as Steve. Be your own man Tim and get this company going, again. If everything is so wonderful, why has the stock tanked. This is BS from Tim Cook!

    13 billion in profit the last quarter is why everything is so wonderful. All else is due to speculation and outside forces. If it ain't broke. ..
  • Reply 70 of 201
    phalanx wrote: »

    They have to innovate faster.   They have to turn new phones and tablets faster.   They are well behind their competition.  Only thing that is saving them is that they have so many people "pregnant" embedded into their ecosystem that people are currently unwilling to switch.  But, that day is slowly waning.   They also need to come up with new products.   ....They "milk" slight changes now like they will change your life.  Siri is a perfect example.  Yeah, it is neat, but most people stop using it after a while.   There maps thing is embracing.  Steve would have handled that whole thing differently.     They need to go faster.
    .

    I knew you weren't serious when I saw the "Steve wouldn't have done that" comment.
  • Reply 71 of 201
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by NelsonX View Post


    The market is skyrocketing today, but AAPL is like the only stock in red! Everything is up, except AAPL! Great job Tim Cook! You're the man!



     


    Who cares about the stock price...unless you're a shareholder. Apple is doomed! 

  • Reply 72 of 201

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jfc1138 View Post



    A iPhone "Nano" would, at some point, perhaps not be a bad idea but at the moment "the iPhone maker collected a whopping 69 percent of handset industry profits last year." and the recently noted success of the 3Gs (!!) let alone the 4, 4s and the 5 all speak to the current inventory being quite nice, thanyouverymuch.




    An iPhone Nano?


     


    Be careful...you've just opened yourself up to angry/passionate responses of: race to the bottom, Apple doesn't do cheap, if it's not a full iOS it's stupid, cannibalization, low margins!  damnit!  Leave feature phones to the Samscum of the earth!


     


    Many don't realize that new form factors, like an iPhone nano (feature-like phone), iWatch, etc...are a redefinition of Apple and doesn't have to mean a cheap, money losing business strategy.

  • Reply 73 of 201
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    I think times have changed. Traditionally Apple has always targeted the economically well off market segment. My Mac II fx cost nearly $10k after adding a hard drive, monitor and some RAM. I also had one of the very first cell phones which cost north of $3k. Today even the guy who begs on the freeway ramp with a God Bless sign has a cell phone.



     


    This doesn't mean Apple needs to make a phone for someone who can't afford it. All you did was show that technology gets cheaper over time, but thats still doesn't mean Apple needs to make a cheaper device, Mac, etc. So I guess by you're thinking, Apple needs to take the Dell approach. Lets just make something as cheap as possible so we can get our products into as many hands as we can. That worked out very well didn't it?

  • Reply 74 of 201
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    mstone wrote: »
    LOL it's important!

    It's all a matter of its context.
  • Reply 75 of 201


    I did not know that Samsung push out the Galaxy line up every month. 


     


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy


     


    I know choice is a good thing but that is too much for consumer to consume.  Now imagine if Apple would go that route and release different version of iphone and ipad from low-end, mid-range, and high-end version every month there would be an outrage and lawsuit. 

  • Reply 76 of 201


    Indeed making the most is not the only metric, or the most important metric of success. But it would be wrong to say success is not making the most.


     


    Lest we forget, Apple also plays the numbers game, or rather did play it, when it makes sense. They repeatedly cite their superior market share in tablets, # of the apps available, # of downloads, amount of app-derived revenue paid out to developers. Not that long ago, they too reported activation numbers regularly, and openly questioned Android activation numbers. That stopped when the evidence wasn't in their favor. So, IMO, it's a bit hollow to poo-poo the numbers game.


     


    Having said this, Apple is still in great shape. But to dismiss Samsung's surge would be pure hubris, just as it would be foolish of Samsung to start uncorking the champagne. We are in the early part of the first quarter in this game.

  • Reply 77 of 201
    rsdofny wrote: »
    Arrogance

    Confidence
  • Reply 78 of 201
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macxpress View Post


     


    Even Steve Jobs has stated more than a few times they aren't interested in market share numbers. This is only something "experts" are interested in. If Apple wanted to be #1 in market share all the time they could be in the race to the bottom with a cheap phone, tablet, Mac, etc. This isn't anything new. 


     


    Quite honestly, Apple should just do their own thing and I too wouldn't really care what shareholders want. Shareholders are only out for their own best interests...just like these so called "experts" who think they know  what people want from Apple better than Apple does. 


     


    As I've stated before, I wish Apple could just go private and do their own thing. I know this will never happen for financial and legal reasons but I wish it would happen. 



    Nicely put.  The obsession with market share is an old argument that people have made for decades regarding Apple and their business.  Now more than ever, market share is relatively unimportant to Apple.  It is however, VERY important to the "experts" and the masses because that is all they understand.  They are simpletons, but Apple should be careful here.  Damage can be done to the brand via drops in stock price.  The share price has fallen mostly because of rumor and emotions prevalent among the market share freaks.  The "experts" issue way out of whack estimates (guesses) as to how Apple should perform.  Apple doesn't meet those crazy guesses and poof, share price tanks.


     


    I agree, find a way to go private and be done with all this BS.

  • Reply 79 of 201
    I would say Tim Cook and the team at Apple are doing something right.

    $140 billion in cash, no debt and the ability to sell everything it makes says a lot.
  • Reply 80 of 201

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macxpress View Post




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by phalanx View Post




    They have to innovate faster.   They have to turn new phones and tablets faster.   They are well behind their competition.  Only thing that is saving them is that they have so many people "pregnant" embedded into their ecosystem that people are currently unwilling to switch.  But, that day is slowly waning.   They also need to come up with new products.   ....They "milk" slight changes now like they will change your life.  Siri is a perfect example.  Yeah, it is neat, but most people stop using it after a while.   There maps thing is embracing.  Steve would have handled that whole thing differently.     They need to go faster.


    .



     


    I'd like you to explain how Apple is "so far behind their competition"? You can only innovate so fast. Its not about getting something out just to get it out. I think you need to get it mostly right when you release it. Apple can't afford to release absolute crap. 



    Sometimes you've just got to let go on totally moronic posts...... just let it hang there.

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