charlesn

"If it sounds too good to be true..." 

Words to stay safe by. Not even a minute after I read this article, wouldn't you know it, but "Warner Bros. TV" contacted me to offer $1000/day for simple work from home, plus an extra $1000 bonus for every three days I work in a row. Amazing! Can't wait to get started! 

Another one making the rounds, but based on a threat--I've gotten this one myself: an email claims that your computer has been thoroughly hacked and that unless you send the hacker money, he'll make your life a living hell with all of the private information, passwords, credit cards, bank account numbers, etc that he now has. As "proof" of his hack. and his supposed skills, he points to the fact he sent this email to you from your own email address. And, indeed, the sender will appear to be you and your email address. But in fact, there has been no hack, he has simply spoofed your email address, which is no doubt out there in public, and spoofing it is pretty easy. But hey, maybe you don't know that, and you'll send him the cash. 

When Apple is as late to the party for a given tech device as it is with a folding phone, it usually makes up for that with a best-in-class device that leaps ahead of competitors in one way or another. But what's absent from all the iPhone Fold rumors is any suggestion that it will define itself in some unique way that clearly sets it apart from competitors. In fact, the existing premium folding phones from the top Chinese manufacturers completely blow away anything that I've read rumored about the iPhone Fold. It seems to be an iPhone that folds, and that's that. We already know that the premium pricing of best-in-class folding phones has made them a very niche market, so it has never been clear to me why Apple wants to enter this market at all. If it was entering it with extraordinary tech of some kind and an incredible design, I could see a niche being worth it if for no other reason than to burnish the Apple brand. "Wow, look what Apple did!" But I've yet to read of even a hint of wow factor for what's coming, assuming it is coming at all. Seems like the marketing tagline for the iPhone Fold should be, "Now Apple Makes a Folding Phone, Too!"

iluvcrap2000 said:

Smoke and mirrors. They will "Invest" into a Limited Commitment and Take the Time till He gets out of office.  

Same for all these "investment' announcements. Foxconn in Wisconsin redux. A cough, "promise" of $10 billion and 13,000 new jobs. Big, splashy photo op with Trump shown shoveling dirt at the groundbreaking, when what he was really shoveling was bullsh*t. The whole thing ended up as a nothing burger. 

nubus said:

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.

Let's review with FACTS, shall we? 

First: Kuminga said that Cook was navigating and working with all administrations intelligently, and obviously referring to the Trump administration in particular. Working with an administration intelligently is completely separate from court cases in which Apple is involved, especially when they date back to the Steve Jobs era, but sure, let's blame Cook for that. 

Second: the EU case tax evasion case regarding Apple and Ireland references a special tax arrangement that Apple and Ireland have had since 1996. And while Apple lost the first round in court, it then won on appeal--so this was clearly a case that deserved to be fought--and it was only after the EU appealed to its own highest court (lol, no chance of collusion there with 13 billion euros at stake!) that the case was ultimately lost. But even then, the years for which they owed back taxes were 2004-2014. And Steve Jobs was CEO of Apple for 7 of those 10 years. But yeah, let's blame Cook!

Third: the U.S. courts ruled against Epic on 9 of 10 counts. It only won on anti-steering, which allowed Epic to link to purchase outside of the App Store, but Epic still had to pay Apple 27% commission on those purchases. In the EU, they passed the Digital Markets Act that applies to all companies, not just Apple. (Except Spotify seems to get a pass, and how curious that it's based in the EU!) At any rate, Apple has been forced to allow third party app stores to offer iOS apps. But yeah, let's blame that on Cook! I should add that in terms of the tech business, the EU has been left in the dust by the U.S. and Asia, so its only means of "competing" now is to make life difficult for tech companies writ large. 

Fourth: The EU USB-C requirements apply to all companies, not just Apple. This has nothing to do with Cook. 

Fifth: The DOJ price-fixing case on books against Apple, which it won, dates to actions taken during the Steve Jobs era. In fact, it was Jobs's own words that proved to be the most damning evidence against Apple in the case. But yeah, let's blame it on Cook! 

Sixth: The case involving the Google search deal is undecided, as is the question of whether an Apple exec committed perjury. So how about we not decide what's undecided? But with regards to search, by the time that decision is announced, it will not matter. AI search is rapidly killing off ad-supported search as we speak, and it will render the Google deal moot. 

Seventh: The dumping of inept and unreliable Intel for Apple Sillcon is one of Apple's greatest decisions ever. One look at Intel's stock chart over the past 5 years tells you everything you need to know about it as a company. During one of the greatest run-ups ever for tech, in general, Intel's stock has cratered. 

Eighth: Cook misfired on cars by pulling the plug?! Yes, as an Apple investor, I sit around and cry daily that Apple isn't in the same boat now as Rivian, Lucid, Polestar and Fiskar -- all losing MASSIVE amounts of money on every car they "sell" --or bankrupt and out of business in the case of Fiskar -- with no hope of profitability anywhere on the horizon. Even Tesla, with all the price-cutting and lease deals it has offered, just keeps watching sales sink every quarter. 

If there's one thing I love about this Republican administration, it's their small "g" government approach! They're all about getting government and regulations off the backs of businesses, finally! Except, of course, for the use of tariffs as blatant extortion to force businesses to invest where Trump wants them to invest, the actual economics of such investment be damned!

By the way, how is that $10 billion investment from Foxconn in Wisconsin going, the one that Trump 45 announced with much fanfare? Have they filled all 13,000 new jobs yet? /s