sunman42

apple4thewin said:

I wonder why 🧐? Maybe because M2 will soon be replaced with M3 and most people won’t get tricked to buy hardware this close to a possible new one.

I'd think it was more likely some other factor, since the folks who purchase machines that aren't designed for the most demanding tasks (video editing &c.) rarely know or care what the processor is called.

My guess, based on a sample size of one (my sister), is that most of the target market doesn't want a machine that weighs 0.6 lb. more and won't fit their existing sleeves, packs, &c., and simply don't need the larger display. Most of the market that needs a larger display needs it for serious photo or video editing, and are willing to spend the extra $ for a MacBook Pro. Net result, if true: Apple produced a very nice product for too small a slice of the potential market.

Any resemblance to the chaotic state of Apple products and markets immediately prior to the return of Mr. Jobs to the firm is purely coincidental (*cough*).

eightzero said:

mayfly said:

eightzero said:

mayfly said:

eightzero said:

OK, I really don't get this. How does GS lose money on a credit card? Are they paying Apple a disproportionate amount of their rake from the cardholders? The article says "credit losses" so somehow more Apple Card holders are welching? 

Or...it is possible GS thinks they just aren't making the billion they planned? Not sure that's a "loss."

Nope. They're losing plenty. Their customer acquisition cost is $350 per account. In addition, the Apple Card attracts a much more affluent demographic who pay their balances every month, depriving GS of interest charges. On top of that, there is the "buy now, pay later" program that allows customers to pay over 4 months without interest charges. That's how they're losing money. I wouldn't cry for GS, though. They made $10.9 billion in the second QUARTER of this year, even with the Apple Card losses.

OK, so I understand: GS pays Apple $350 for each new account, and since those new accounts generally don't pay GS interest (affluent customers) GS can't make back the $350? And who gets the swipe fee from merchants (that I am always asked to reimburse the merchant for)? Is there no swipe fee charged to a merchant on the Apple Card? GS doesn't get a cut of each transaction?

I am sure GS has overhead on these operations. They have to pay staff to provide customer service; and other infrastructure like IT and the like. But a billion in losses to that? Really?

Really. All you have to do is look at their latest form 10-K for the granular particulars. Even GS doesn't have the guts to fake those numbers. That's a felony.

Fake isn't the same as incompetence. They seemingly spent way, way more than was obvious they would take in. The CEO or VP that approved this still has a job?

Probably a very well paid one, which I suspect may be part of losses GS is seeing in that division. Their managers’ total compensation is scaled to the stratospheric heights of merchant banks, not to the low-margin world of consumer credit.

iloveapplegear said:

she sounds very entitled.

——

Ya think?

The only place I’ve heard customers abuse Apple Store employees like that (or at least the way she claimed to), in fact, was New York City. In the instance I witnessed, at the Upper West Side Store, a middle-aged, well-dressed woman was incensed that all employees were helping other customers. Her basic point appeared to be, “How dare you keep _me_ waiting?”

A sense of undeserved privilege is a wonderful thing, right?

Should we ask Sir Jonny or King Chuck whether they think geocentrism is a reasonable representation for the universe, five hundred years after Copernicus.

twolf2919 said:

fishwhisperer said:

I find it hard to believe that the Mac Pro outsells the Mac Mini and Mac Studio, though the article is not clear i they are counting dollars or units. Anyway, how would;d they know? I don't trust this "guesstimates" when it comes to Apple because of the tight control of Apple on their sales channels. 

This is probably just an artifact of Mac Studio's relative newcomer status.  Mac Pros from 10+ years are still being used.  The Studio has been available for, what, 2 years?

——

Unless this includes secondhand sales, I find the breakdown beggars belief. The article states these are sales figures, not numbers in use.