gregg thurman

Soli said:

id like to see iOS 12 offer some user configuration options or a way to see more data.

No you don't.  You just want to complain.

DavidAlGregory said:

The problem Apple has in the phone market is that unit shipments are probably about as high as they will ever be and the days of huge growth in units are mostly over. Given that, the only way Apple can continue growing profit in phones is to increase the selling price or squeeze costs. As Apple uses many of the very same components (or similar ones) and already assembles in China, the push for higher selling price is the low hanging fruit. But you can only jack up the price so much without destroying demand.

The LTE iPad Pro I am typing this on was just a little under $1,100 and O cannot see spending that much on a phone. I would much rather the combination of LTE iPad and LTE Apple Watch and no iPhone. At some point, the general public may well realize the iPhone is soon to be redundant. Not yet, but soon.

You had me with your first sentence, but then you lost me.

Long ago Apple recognized that, like everything else, the handset market will achieve saturation.  From that point forward growth would be driven by stealing customers from competitors.  This is the way of all product evolutions.  

The problem with stealing customers from competing handset manufacturers is that Apple doesn't want that class of customer, and already has a lock on the high end.  So what to do?

Develop an accessory ecosystem of products that augment/expand the mobile experience, with each new product doing SOMETHING better than the iPhone, thus expanding sales opportunities to iPhone customers.

Apple's Other Products revenue is projected to grow 30+% YoY during FY2018.  That's a higher growth rate than Services.  The combination of the two they became the #2 (behind the iPhone) revenue stream for Apple during FY2015, and as a category have been growing since at 20+% YoY.

Today the point of selling iPhones is to sell more premium Services and premium Other Products.

We may see iPhone unit sales growth in the future, but it won't be much (2% - 3%).  ASPs on the other hand will grow organically (an additional $100 over the next 3 years without raising prices) as less expensive LED iPhones are flushed out of the iPhone product lineup.

Apple's share of handset revenue and profits is going to increase greatly over that 3 year period.

Ming Chi Kuo is an idiot that gets press space BECAUSE BLOGGERS NEED SOMETHING TO PRINT. This missive is typical of the drivel he “reports”, full of inconsistencies and short on factual technological knowledge.

gmgravytrain said:

#1 I often wonder if it's just a problem of confidence or Tim Cook really doesn't have a clue on how to create growth for Apple.

#2 It's probably difficult for a $900B market cap company to grow like a startup, but it seems that's what's expected from Apple.

#3 I can't even imagine what sort of product would be better than selling iPhones, but Apple had better find something else quick or Apple's value will sink like a stone.

#4 Giving Amazon all that revenue to blow past Apple in value in a year makes no sense at all. 

#1 Under Cook's leadership Apple's revenue has grown 105%.  The cash value of Apple's annual growth equals that of a Fortune 500 company every year.

#2 See #1.

#3. The initiatives Apple has introduced in the last couple years will coalesce into a significant revenue stream that will rival today's iPhone revenue.  Because much of those initiatives are dependent on the iPhone PLATFORM, iPhone sales/revenue will continue to be #1 for a long time.  You can no longer think of the iPhone as a single product.  It is a platform from which other products spring.

#4 Amazon has never exceeded Apple's market valuation, and isn't likely to approach Apple's increasing market valuation in the foreseeable (7 - 10 years?) future.  Amazon is nothing more than an online big box retailer.  The products it actually manufactures don't materially contribute to its big box ethos, they are meant to increase shopping on Amazon, nothing more.

adm1 said:

If they're truly in it for the long-haul, couldn't they BUY rather than LEASE? It's not like they're short of cash and if the plans didn't work out THEY could then lease the properties out bringing in more income. I always see renting as a short-term thing, doesn't make sense to me long-term unless they're planning on moving the team around regularly.

In 1995, 8 years after I founded my firm, I purchased a 27,000 sq ft facility to accommodate my growth.  9/11 destroyed my income stream.  While I could cut costs all over the place to match revenue, I could not cut the debt payments.  In 2002 I shuttered the doors.

I will never own a commercial property for my business again.