vvswarup

Jeff D said:

I would like to point out that Google chose to leave the Chinese market years ago rather than capitulate to the Chinese government's ridiculous privacy restrictions. They wanted Google to block a very large portion of the internet, and report anybody attempting to view anything deemed "dangerous" (AKA critical of the government). That Google rejected these terms and Apple embraces them is a win and a source of pride for Google, not Apple.

Oh please! Do you seriously think Google did that out some altruistic intentions of standing up for human rights? It is complete garbage. Google is rotten from the top down. At the time, Baidu, China's homegrown version of Google was growing by leaps and bounds while Google was languishing. Google walked away from China because it would't have made a big difference to the bottom line to stay in China, simple as that. That the media would glorify Google was a welcome side effect.

Eric Schmidt is on record for saying that if someone had something they didn't want anyone knowing about, they wouldn't be doing it in the first place. Schmidt was CEO at the time. Although he's no longer the CEO, he's still in a position of importance at Google. The people in power at Google have that kind of an attitude about privacy. 

Sometimes, I get the feeling that Google engages in all of its R&D in order to distract the public from how rotten its core business really is. It's definitely working. Google is synonymous with making the world a better place in the eyes of the media despite its core business being built on selling users' search habits to the highest bidder. 

Here's how the media will view it. Google made a major investment in advancing robotics technology and continues to make some major investment while Apple is using existing robots to make a thinner iPhone. Google is investing in the next big thing while Apple is simply using yesterday's technology to make an obsolete product. 

ac1234 said:

vvswarup said:

Wall Street believes that making money and investing in the future are mutually exclusive. To please Wall Street to the degree you want, Apple will have to throw the baby out with the bathwater and abandon the very principles that have brought Apple to its current position. I don't think it's worth it.

Nonsense - Apple has to articulate and demonstrate an exciting trajectory beyond the iPhone.  So far the market is not impressed with what they have seen vis a vis HOMEKIT / Beats / Apple TV / streaming content negotiation failure / etc.

The market wants to see something beyond the iPhone, but the only way for Apple to "demonstrate an exciting trajectory beyond the iPhone" would be to stop being Apple because as of now, I don't think there's any product ready for mass production. Apple would have to pull a Google or Amazon and reveal whatever it's working on inside its R&D facilities. It would probably go a long way towards pleasing Wall Street but it's abandoning the very principles that helped Apple succeed.

Google isn't that much better than Apple. Google is still as married to search as Apple is married to the iPhone. Just as HomeKit/Beats are products/services designed to bolster the iPhone rather than replace, Android is a platform designed to create an economic moat around search. The difference between Google and Apple is that Google is very public about whatever it has going on inside its R&D facilities. The company spends a lot of time talking about its pet projects whereas Apple doesn't say a word. The media has to just guess. 

In summary, I don't think Apple should get defensive over every little thing the media likes to say. 

sog35 said:

jkichline said:

Wrong. When Tim Cook took the reigns of Apple on August 24, 2011, the stock price was $370 or so. Tim Cook has been at the helm when stock soared to over $700 per share, guided Apple through a 7 to 1 stock split and massive buyback program. The stock is currently "low" at $105 per share. If you adjust for the split, you're looking at $735 per share equivalent. So doubling the stock price is some how an "absolute piece of shit" during an economic downturn?

When the stock soared from $370 in Aug2011 to $700 in Sept2012 that was momentum from the Jobs era. 
There is no way Cook did anything that significantly changed the stock price in 12 months.

The last 3 years have been all Cook, starting with the release of the iPhone5.
Since then the stock has been up about 2% each year. What an utter failure. Especially considering that profits and revenue are up 60%.

Again Cook is great at operations.  But he is HORRIBLE at PR and pleasing shareholders and investors. He allows all the FUD to fester and that leads to panic selling. He either needs to hire someone who knows how to handle Wall Street/investor fears or resign. 2% stock growth during the companies most lucritive era is unacceptable. Now imagine if profits only grew 10%?  Where would the stock be then? 

The only way Tim Cook is going to satisfy you is if he turns Apple into another Google, Amazon or Facebook. Amazon has been spending money like there's no tomorrow for twenty years. The company has an aversion to making money. The Street has rewarded Amazon for its profligacy. They then look at Apple and conclude on the basis of Apple earning record profits and cash flow that Apple isn't investing in its future and instead, it is is simply spending all of its time on shaving off a couple of millimeters of thickness of the iPhone and stuffing a better processor/camera into it.

Wall Street believes that making money and investing in the future are mutually exclusive. To please Wall Street to the degree you want, Apple will have to throw the baby out with the bathwater and abandon the very principles that have brought Apple to its current position. I don't think it's worth it.

sog35 said:

Apple is down another $6 billion today.  Over $16 billion the last two days.  Thats a WHOLE YEAR of Dividends.

Yet Cook does absolutely NOTHING. He sits on his ASS and does NOTHING.

The stock is down over $200 BILLION because of totally baseless LIES and SPECULATION.  Yet Cooks does nothing.  He sits there on his ASS and worries about gay rights instead of the $200 BILLION that shareholders and employees have lost.  He spent $120 BILLION on buyback and half of that is now in the RED.  IN a few weeks the entire buyback will be in the RED and will be a total waste of money.

Stock is down $16 billion because of a fucking $300 million tax bill.  How the FUCK does that makes sense. Where the FUCK is Tim Cook to stop the bleeding? 

I get it that you're upset that Apple's stock is getting hammered based on lies. I think it's a travesty that despite posting twice as much revenue and profit than Google or Amazon while still showing better revenue growth, Apple trades at a low P/E. What do you want Tim Cook to do to "stop the bleeding?"