nubus

longfang said:

Kuminga said:

No, these countries all had trade barriers on US goods

Did you know that Australia does not allow US beef because they say it’s poisonous due to poor US ranchers techniques ? Are you dead from eating UA beef? I am not.

Europe did same to American chickens .

That is why US export numbers so low and what Trump trying to fix 

From personal experience, US chicken smells funny. 

The smell is due to US doing acid washes of chicken (used to be chlorination). It is a way of compensating for poor hygiene standards. In general US food standards are good and on fresh dairy products the US standards are higher than EU. But for chicken and food additives US standards are driven by the industry.

On beef the problem is the US use of drugs/hormones in some products. There is a massive zero-tariff quota for clean US beef with USDA helping farmers. Stop complaining and start producing something people want to buy. Tesla showed that Europeans are ready to buy US cars. US wine makers are doing fine (or used to). It really is all about the product.

Mike Wuerthele said:

blastdoor said:

This earnings report in NO WAY proves that people worried about Apple's ability to capitalize on AI are wrong. 

This report absolutely proves that the analysts who cried about this quarter because of Apple Intelligence were wrong.

The report does indeed prove that analysts were wrong about the quarter. Currency tailwinds (likely 2%), tariff scare moving sales forward (1%), access to $42 billion in government incentives from China (MSRP of iPhone 16 Pro dropped 30%!), strong F1 opening, limited negative impact of tariffs, and boost in services.The analysts didn't see all of that.

But @blastdoor is right in the sense that AI is holding Apple back. While Apple delivered 24% growth in services then MS hit 34%. Microsoft is also less exposed to tariffs. The series of strategic blunders and product misfires from Apple caused this, and the quarter just expanded it to nearly a trillion gap.

And Apple might be heading towards another strategic miscalculation. Apple is trying to keep AI on-device. It will increase the cost of devices and expose them to tariffs while the quality of AI on-device remains limited by storage, battery, memory, and processing power. MS is mostly doing AI as services delivering tariff free recurring income with constantly updated models.

Apple is betting on on-device to the point where we have a datacenter gap (thanks Dr. Strangelove). The Environmental Progress Report from Apple is showing 6.7% growth in data centers from 2023 to 2024. Microsoft is growing 33% per year (both numbers based on energy consumption). This gap can define what Apple is capable of doing when looking ahead.

If Trump wants to stop India from funding Russia then simply say "call centers can't operate in the country". That is putting 2 million Indian jobs at risk without hurting Apple or US consumers.

Blackwhitepanda said:

For long term, AAPL will be fine. I consider AAPL Coca Cola of the 21st Century. Cash (flow) machine with strong balance sheet, but no stellar growth. 

AAPL will then be like having a bond. Microsoft performed like that under Ballmer. I really prefer for Apple to innovate and create great solutions. All this penny-pinching, designing for things to be sticky, and court cases are not where I prefer to see Apple. Creating insanely great products that people will buy should do.

Tariffs are federal taxes on efficiency. Republicans have decided that for government to tip the scales on business decisions is best for US. Weird but true.

This quarter is the end of what used to be normal. It is the beginning of something new but it will take years for us to see the full impact. Feeling sorry for the team at Apple.

studiomusic said:

As usual, Apple nails it!

Apple delivered 9% net income growth while Microsoft hit 24%. Deduct currency tailwinds of 2% and inflation of 3% and it is more like 4% vs. 19%.
The growth in services from Apple at 24% is impressive but Microsoft did even better at 34%.

Microsoft joined the 4 trillion club today while Apple is fighting tariffs, legal battles, brain drain, and a series of strategic misfires.
It will take years for Apple to nail. But customers are loyal and a few steps in the right direction can always change things.

ericthehalfbee said:

Apple should simply drop fees to some ridiculously low level in the EU (5% for small developers, 8% for everyone else). There’d be no reason for any developer to want to roll their own store

You can't be a gatekeeper (EU term) or hold a monopoly (US DOJ) and then use one product (smartphones) to get a monopoly on reselling software. Not by blocking competition or by "drop fees to some ridiculously low level" in order to use one monopoly to gain another.

As for "what about Sony". The EU DMA regulation requires 45 million active users for companies to be seen as gatekeepers. Sony is at 30-35 million. Doesn't stop other cases to hit Sony. This week a Dutch case on "Sony Tax" hit courts.

Is Apple aiming to implement features on a state, territory, or developer level? macOS Guam? iOS Epic? I'm sure school districts in Texas would like to warn anyone going to cnn.com. Apple is IMHO spending too much time on weird legal battles.

The days of Watch being a classy fashion statement are over. It is now a gadget for suburban dwellers in jogging suits. It took Apple 1 year to give up the idea of being premium or even being in the watch business.

Angela Ahrendts was selected due to her experience in fashion. I don't believe she will stay on to sell LG Monitors and fitness accessories.
If Apple is heading in that direction then Tim Cook has to set a team by picking up people from Nike or Adidas.

MisterKit said:

Not to worry. Open market app stores can't wait to host the fraudsters.

First DOGE those that could deal with fraudsters and then demand a monopoly due to the world being scary? Crony capitalism. It will help Apple until Apple has been standing still for too long.

Go to any DMV "service location" to bask in the experience of no free markets. Visit any USPS office to enjoy the short queues and customer focused products delivered (or not). Having no competition is great if you're too lazy to compete. I say we're ready for a Family Store for apps, an American Apps store, and even The Sleazy Store.

Kuminga said:

Tim Cook is the type of CEO I want as an investor . Navigating and working with all administration intelligently .

Except that he doesn't. He lost the EU tax evasion case, the Epic case (EU + US), the EU USB-C requirements, DOJ price-fixing on books, and DOJ is now actively trying to kill the $20 billion Google deal while one his executives might have committed perjury. After Trump #45 he dumped Intel in favor of non-American chips and bet everything on foreign components.

Add that Cook during the last 5 years have made strategic misfires on cars, AI, "Trump isn't serious about tariffs", and "must (ship now to) compete with Zuckerberg on headsets". No wonder the market cap is stalling.

As an investor I prefer to have a CEO that can deliver tomorrow.