humbug1873

slurpy said:

40 BILLION? That's fucking insane. How much money does Apple Pay even make Apple? I think it's almost negligent. It's more of a value added feature for their ecosystem. 

Pure insanity. Meanwhile companies that engage in actual egregious shit get no punishments, or pathetic slaps on the wrist. 

Those fines are supposed to REALLY hurt. So it makes sense they are based on a percentage of the worldwide revenue. Otherwise companies might just continue doing illegal business practices accepting 'low' fines as the cost of doing business. Since the EU cares about adherence to law more than about money, that makes sense.

obiwanbill said:

Haha … you obviously don’t listen to their earnings calls or read their financials.

TSLA is the most profitable car company, by far! I don’t own a TSLA and frankly I find their interiors quite spartan. However, many are willing to accept that and ❤️ their cars because of all the things TSLA does well … software updates, ALL electric, FAST and for the hope they deliver on Level 5 autonomy.

When they do … Profits go to the moon! 🚀

You better read the full financial details. Tesla is only 'profitable' thanks to tax dollars it get's payed, they are not profitable on their own.

bloggerblog said:

A Vision Pro could be your personal computer, just like bringing in a laptop or an iPad. Is this only for residents of Germany, are tourists exempt?

True and if push comes to shove you need to proof, that you bought your laptop in the EU. That can well be done after they 'caught' you (i.e. you went to the green lane and they randomly picked you for a control). Same goes for any valuables (Jewelery, Expensive Cameras, etc). In that case you have to provide proof in within a few weeks.

Since the Vision Pro is not available outside the US, it's essentially a clear case. You'll have to pay the taxes (19% in Germany if you declare it ... if you didn't it's twice that for punishment).

On the plus side: The honest importer will most likely financially not be worse off, than waiting to buy the product in the EU for final EU pricing (likely to be around 4800EUR). Even if he payed sales taxes in the US. Because the Apple EU prices are usually even way higher than US Price + EU Sales tax. Just did a little check on an iPad Pro you end up paying US Price + 19% Germany Sales Tax (EU sales taxes can be as high as 24%) + 17% on top because Apple can.

Is this also one of these design prices where you actually pay the awards organisation money and then they invent a new, fitting category in which this device wins said award?  (At least that is the way the infamous 'red dot design award' usually works).

People just don't get it. Apple is rarely a techno-feature company but intensely focus on user/useable features. Oh look we've got this new techno-gimmick you can ... use (for what exactly we're not sure) ... that's not Apple.
I would guess they're probably working on a Siri Improvement, that can hold a conversation (eventually having in part generative AI working in the background) .. and that you can sell to the average user (and that is what an average user would care about).
... and beyond that, they won't talk about it until it is done.

Or to put it in hype cycle terms Apple will enter during the rise phase, work through the peak phase (usually in quiet) and then suddenly show up with something useful during the through of disillusionment phase and prbably be the reason we'll eventually rise to the plateau of productivity, because something truely useful comes out of it ... or will silently let it die if nothing useful comes out of it.

Where are we with generative AI!? Probably at the heights of the Peak going to fall down soon. Because essentially right now its more of a toy.

You forgot the political dimension here as well. With millions of Chinese workers manufacturing directly or indirectly for Apple, they are a force of interest to the Chinese officials. I guess they have quite the influence on the PRC government.

Now Apple is moving out of China and also adding some automation, which could lead to hundred-thousands of no longer working Chinese and that at a time where PRC unemployment rates are rising!

If Apple pushes for more automation in China, they'll face a mountain of trouble in China. The fact that PRC government started forbidding to carry iPhones for any government worker (in the office) was just a warning shot and already lead to revenue loss in China. 

(Now add the convicted felon tRump as #47 and his loud anti-china-rethoric and Apple will face significant headwind in the PRC!)

I just don't get it. OK Apple has the first time used the AI moniker wow big deal.
Who was the first to equip all it's (major compute) hardware with AI support in Hardware!? Apple.
Who has been continouusly implemented features once they are ready for prime time, privacy and are actually useful? Apple.
Who has for years an in house team for AI? Apple (yes okay and others).

Who is surprised!? Those braindead MBAs that just don't get that ML is an AI technique.

But hey as a stock holder I'm good.

Let me guess ... they release AAA-Games months after the console/PC release and are wondering why people are not/no longer interested in buying the game for the iPhone!? Of course that makes no sense/even less if they charge a high list price for old games.
Also, based on my own experience ports usually are horrible, so I wouldn't touch them with a long pole.
Where are the AAA-Games that are Apple First?

I would also guess, that the whole Apple Game fetish will eventually die/disappear like the other 3(?) times they promised to push for games, that never shown any lifesigns.

Kwikiwi said:

I am not a big fan of stock buy backs for Apple. The main issue I have is that Apple has to take out debt to buy the stock back and it has gone from being debt free to having over $100 Billion of long term debt that now costs over 4% to service. Yes they generate lots of cash and are able to service the debt but things can change rapidly in the tech industry and that could be a problem in the future. If they did a better dividend scheme, say 50% of all net profit paid out as a dividend the return would be very healthy and by it's nature always serviceable and they could reduce their long term debt substantially. I know dividends create issues when so much of the profit (greater than 54%) is generated overseas and that a lot of people will go on about lazy balance sheets, and I understand their thinking, but I would rather they had bigger cash reserves, less debt and did some better acquisitions than so much in buy backs. Having said all of that I am very fortunate to have done well from my shareholding in Apple over a 20 year period and extremely grateful for that - I just don't like the massive buy backs.

Yep same here. Stock buybacks and dividends are good for the current shareholders short and medium term, but since it's largely debt financed it removes flexibility in the future. Though its not all bad, since  they still get rates get way below the 4% APR and also (at least used to) get way below inflation APRs (if i remember correctly it was usually way below 1% in the last 10 years).
It's the separation between 'making good products success will come' and 'make shareholders happy and get out in time before things get bad'.
So right now they have a good run, money is coming in, no crisis in sight. That would be the time to save up, pay up and make sure you've got resources should things turn bad. If Apple had worked in the 1980ties the way they do now, they would have gone bankcrupt in the 90'ies.
Still remember Steve Jobs from an Apple internal Comm-meeting in 2001, where he came up with exactly that point. Yes live is bad (2001-3 have been harsh times after the .com bust and 9/11), but Apple works its own buildings and is debt-free, so we still have room to play. Essentially betting the company thrice (iMac, iPod, iPhone), was what enabled Apple to come back from the crypt. If they were in debt working from a leased headquarter at that time, Apple would have been a blip in history.
But hey stripping a company of its resources has and puffers has been the way to ruin companies since the 80's, so sm

jas99 said:

It will be interesting to see what the security implications of this become. 

Will European iPhones become infected with malware and distribute that malware throughout the world via messages and email and…?

Looks like we are ending up in a similar situation as with Mac OS. Except for the 'remaining' security issue on the Mac side (unsigned apps). I sure hope Apple offers the security setting that only App Store Apps can be installed on the iPhone.