melgross

For years, only LG had competitors to Apple’s displays. The 4k and the 5k. I can tell you from having the 5k, here for a while, along with Apple’s display, that Apple’s was much better. The LG had a lot of problems for the first year and some lingered longer than that. It was also much flimsier than Apple’s. If you calibrated it carefully, it looked very good, but unlike Apple’s its calibration would constantly go off. Not with Apple’s. 

charlesn said:

ssfe11 said:

I wonder how many people died as a direct result of this Massimo Joe Kiani Patent Troll ? How do these trolls live with themselves? 

Oh, please. Untold numbers of people DIED because some Apple Watches didn't have a blood ox sensor enabled?!  Drama queen much? Evidence of this? Gosh, what did we do before blood ox sensors first appeared on watches in 2017? Were people just keeling over in the streets on the regular? Also, people throw the term "patent troll" against any patent litigation they don't like. It's estimated that Masimo spent $100 million in litigation against Apple--that ain't "trolling" money! You're certainly welcome to say that you don't think Masimo had a viable case--I happen to think that Masimo's pursuit of this was a really dumb business decision since they ended up with nothing of real value to the company--this case became Kiani's great white whale--but you don't spend $100 million unless you believe you have a case. Kiani, by the way, has been gone from Masimo for almost a year, and nothing has changed vis a vis Apple since he left. 

snookie said:

So where are all the people now who flipped out over rumors that it would not be?

There weren't rumors that it would never be enabled for one simple reason: worst case was a wait til the Masimo patent in contention expires in 2028. I really thought we'd get a settlement once Kiani was gone, but that hasn't happened and I would love to know the real story of why not. 

I agree that people won’t be keeling over on the street. But I’ve told this story before here that my Watch saved my life, according to my doctors. My cardiologist thinks having the sensor is a very good thing for those with heart problems, as I have. Every visit, we go over the readings my Watch has taken over the last three months. She bought one several years ago and most doctors and nurses in hospitals here in NYC, at least, are wearing them. I also have the finger unit for blood oxygen, but the Watch tracks it regularly during the time I have the Watch on, which is all the time other than charging and washing it. All the sensors working together, as they do, give an excellent picture of your health. If any of those sensors are removed you lose one aspect of the entire picture.

often I think that Apple should just buy these small companies even if they’re overpriced. Apple can afford it. If they stop selling those products, too bad. But they could always sell off that part of the company if they don’t want it, or spin it off. Or they could open a division to make and sell those products, or put them in the accessories division with the Watch and other products. They wanted the music software that Beats had, but kept making the products, so they could do that, if they wanted to. It would certainly save them from a lot of headaches and bad publicity.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying that I do NOT want a 200mp sensor in my phone. There is no point to that.

ApplePoor said:

Not so sure Apple's use of cash is benefitting the shareholders or the Board Room members and senior staff that have inside information.....

Perhaps if they expended more on R&D we would not have to have a bunch of lies covering up their failures to get the job done they promised. Leadership sucks so bad that four top AI guys were recruited away as they were obviously disgusted with the Apple work place. Lack of Leadership is not usually rewarded with anything other than a termination notice.  Tim Cook has a huge Apple provided financial cushion and his life style would not be negatively impacted if he had to do work elsewhere.

Well, those were the A.I. guys who were responsible for the failure. Good riddance.

but they could buy Perplexity as they were said to be thinking of doing. They would certainly have the money if they didn’t throw it away. Also the talk about gaming has been goi g on for how long? Microsoft understands what has to be done, and they spent $67 billion for Activision. Apple could have done that.

but they would rather tear up their cash than do something with it. I guarantee if they bought Activision, their stock would be at least $15 higher. If they bought Perplexity, it would rise another $15. But buying stocks back has never shown any appreciable gain. People have been so brainwashed about this since it became legal in 1985 that they think it’s a real benefit. I’ve read a number of economics papers on this and there has never been any proof it it’s effectiveness. Some economists agree that it’s not a good thing.

greginprague said:

melgross said:

Quite frankly. $0.26 is well under what Apple should be paying. They buy much more stock back than they pay in dividends.

They “could” pay much more than $0.26 quarterly.  Why should they do so?  I prefer the buybacks.  That doesn’t create a taxable event for me.  I think they pay a 1% fee to buy back versus a 15-20% qualified divided tax rate for most folks.  How is that better?

I totally dislike buybacks. There is zero evidence it causes the stock to rise and it takes all of that money and burns it. What could the company do with all that money? Marketing, R&D, maybe even a factory. Give employees better benefits so they wouldn’t feel they have to unionize.  Apple has bought somewhere in the range of $780 billion shares over the years. A total waste of money. There is no reason they should be paying a 0.5% dividend. Not with all that profit. They also said they have $108 billion in debt and issued more. This is all to finance buybacks. That’s good in your eyes?