fred stein

I love your insights. But split a hair on 'premium' While Apple products have a premium appeal, they're usually priced at or below, if one just considers price net of residual or net of trade-in. Caveat: When competing with clones, there will always be clearance priced models or new entrants with deep discounts, BOGO offers. 

When pixel was first launched it was to the penny (and performance wise) a near perfect match to iPhone. I did a comp to Sony's year late "air" version of a PC laptop, a flop that was priced slightly above MBA. 

If one looks at truly Veblen goods, the best example is the roller luggage design for carry-on. They range from about $200 (not so good but OK) to about $1,000 for top of the line, and to veblen, Guggi, etc to $2500. 

If you look at gross margins, Apple's are average. Apple's secret is their combined R&D and SG&A %'s, Apple's are much lower than comparison in tech or consumer products. That's why Apple is so profitable.

The implications extends far beyond the App Store. 

Why would this not apply to swag sold at Disney, or sports event, or other entertainment venues? Many entertainment venues use exclusive ticketing vendors who charge comparable markup. 

Many retailers strictly control their suppliers and markup as well. 

Apple's App Store may seem like a monopoly, because of the iPhone's high market share in the US, and the fact that the App Store has twice the revenue of Google Play. Globally iPhone is just 15% of the market. In China, WeChat is the market place for all Apps. Anyone can jail break an iPhone to get un-vetted Apps and lose Apple's security and warranty.

The Supreme Court has set a dangerous precedent that can empower intimidation lawsuits to on-line and off-line stores who may not have the legal resources to fight back. And how does anyone decide fair mark-up? 30% is not excessive for retail in general. Should the courts, rather than Apple, decide which Apps are safe? And which Apps are ripoff copies of other Apps? Can I force Macy's to sell fake knock-off of Levi's?

Failing to predict the future actions that stimulated the trade war is not the same as deliberately misleading. At the time of the earnings call, the XR has only been available for 2 weeks. It's likely that demand exceeded supply at that point in time. Also Tim Cook clearly acknowledged that they did not anticipate the need to lower the price of the XR in China quickly enough. In the next quarter they lowered the price and demand increased. A casual look at AAPL, or nearly any publicly traded asset, shows that the market tends to excess to the upside or downside. That is exactly what happened with AAPL. Investor need to think like Warren Buffett who buys stocks to hold for five years or more, and ignore volatility.

If anyone uses any speaker phone anywhere, it is easy for anyone to eavesdrop. Likewise for any conferencing applications.

Slightly off topic, but worth noting:

Remember how many cracked screens we used to see on iPhones? Not so much anymore by my completely unscientific sampling techniques. And people are holding onto their iPhones longer these. 

Nothing new. Its Apple's core values: Making products that just work. Optimizing for "rest of us", not the techies. It seems fair to me to let outlier folks repair iPhones on their own and NOT require Apple to warrantee those iPhones.