cnocbui

Samsung must have gained ground because of all those Android users jumping ship to iPhone 6s.

Rayz2016 said:

bradipao said:

"Despite massive buybacks, Apple still has a growing pile of cash"

DED, you should be honest with investors. The truth is that Apple net assets (cash and investments excluded debts) are basically flat since 3 years (not piling at all). You know that massive buybacks had beed funded with massive debts (billions of dollars in issued bonds).

The graph below shows that profits of the last three years have been basically destroyed by speculators exploiting sistematic buybacks.
So, AAPL is an extremely strong company, but as a stockholder, I would prefer to stop buybacks at all to avoid burning profits.

I thought one reason for the buyback was to reduce the cash pile, which just loses value while it's sitting there. 

That is not the case.  The buybacks are being funded by borrowings, so have no effect on the cash pile, they just create a pile of debt.

"Buybacks increase the scarcity, and therefore value, of Apple's stock by taking shares off the market and retiring them."

NO they don't.  That is just a 'theory' which has been disproven by reality.  Tim Cook should never have listened to Carl Icahn.  If he had instead announced significantly increased dividends I strongly suspect Apple's share price would be way higher than it currently is.

I do not understand this APPL shareholder glee at a huge cash pile or their seemingly adamant view that overseas profits shouldn't be repatriated, have the due tax paid on it and then be disbursed to shareholders as dividends. The cash pile doesn't do investors or Apple any good beyond bragging rights.  Apple don't need that much in order to grow or pursue new business opportunities.

I do think the US government should introduce franking of dividends, like Australia has, as it is not appropriate to have profits taxed twice.   I wonder what individual investors would choose if Multinationals were allowed to repatriate overseas profits, not pay any tax on it, distribute it to shareholders who then would have to pay the 38% or whatever the tax owing on it.  If a shareholder could tick a box and say, yes, pay me the dividend or tick no, leave it in the pile, who in their right mind would tick 'no'?  I would rather pay the 38% and have money I could actually make use of.  The US economy would benefit greatly.  The government wouldn't be so indebted and more money would be in the hands of consumers to consume or invest with.

irnchriz said:

My niece had her home button replaced and Touch ID was disabled, even DFU restore it wouldn't enable, it is on the latest iOS update and is fine apart from that.  Apple just advised that Touch ID won't work and that they won't repair it because it has 3rd party parts in it now.  No biggie, she just can't use Touch ID or Apple Pay.

maybe it's just certain parts that cause the 53 error?

When you say they won't repair it, does that mean they won't repair it with the existing button or they won't even supply Apple approved parts and restore it to full working order, even if you paid the full cost of the parts and repair?

EsquireCats said:

The fact is Apple are willing licensees of intellectual property and frequently aim to do the right thing by IP holders.

And sometimes they don't.

apple ][ said:

cnocbui said:

Apple are probably going to get sued over this.  It is something intentionally built into iOS 9.  Deliberately incapacitating an iPhone someone has paid a lot of money for is probably illegal in the EU.

Imagine if car manufacturers did this.  You put aftermarket brake pads on it, then later take it in f or a dealer service and they update the firmware in the ECU.  You go back to pick up your car and they say 'sorry, mate, the new firmware has detected you fitted non genuine brake pads and has disabled your car - you will have to buy a new one.

Yeah, I can see people saying 'Oh... ok.  Fair enough.'

Any morons out there are free to sue if they so desire.

Do you even have an iPhone? You've been anti-Apple for as long as I can remember.

You should just buy an Android phone, as it seems that you would be much happier with such a phone, as the Android mentality is obviously better suited for you.

Good for Apple for taking security seriously, despite the protests of a few confused people who wish for iPhones to be less secure. Apple can't allow any two bit, unauthorized technicians to tamper with the security of their phones! What planet do you live on?  

I also find your analogy to be rather lacking. Apple is not going to disable any phones if somebody goes and gets their screen fixed, as that doesn't directly relate to the security of the phone. But if somebody goes ahead and tampers with Touch ID, then you better believe that Apple is 100% in the right for bricking any such phones.

I don't have an iPhone, I did buy one for my daughter.

There is no 'Android mentality' that is just you being typically supercilious and displaying your usual overblown sense of self-importance.

I think you don't grasp the concept of property ownership.  I find it very peculiar that someone with your history of expressing far-right thought patterns should think it appropriate for any company or individual  to deal with your property as if it belonged to them.  What planet do you live on?

I formulated my analogy on reading that people who had had an 'unathorised repair' and later updated to iOS9, essentially had their phone bricked by Apple on-purpose.  These repairs have been allowed in the past, it is only iOS 9 that has this added security feature.  Apple should have issued a prominent public warning so people could choose not to upgrade the OS.  Bricking people's phones deliberately without cause or warning is inexcusable.  The phones do not belong to Apple.  Saying it is necessary for security is BS because in many cases any potential security breach occurred some time in the past when people had their phones repaired.  Bricking the phones now doesn't repair a security breach, it just stuffs their phone.