michael scrip

tmay said:

foggyhill said:

Even doesn't make sense since there is nothing Amazon sells that would generate this kind of traffic.
I think we was just trying to justify a lower than promised result (to cover his butt) and used his best client to do it!!! What the hell.
Apple should maybe find another place to put their stores since dumbass thinks they are so easy to replace... Lets see how losing 25% in sales will feel.

 I would be surprised it it stops at books, but that is just my speculation. To me it looks like Amazon is trying to change its last mile delivery costs with retail pickup, and also showroom for consumer electronics and other items. Perhaps that would be why Amazon is investing in its own freight hauling capability, its becoming more vertically integrated.

Amazon has millions of products.   You can order almost anything from your computer, phone or tablet... and it makes its way to you from their 70 million square feet of warehouse space.

They are more of a logistics company than a retailer. 

Amazon has 50 brands of SSDs and thousands of units in stock in their warehouses that I can receive in 2 days.  A retail store would only have a couple brands and a couple units of each.

And that's just one product.  Amazon has millions of others.

I can see Amazon putting more warehouses in more locations and doing their own freight hauling.  No point in paying UPS, FedEX, USPS and DHL when they could do it themselves.

About the only value I see for physical locations is same-day store-pickup.  But only if the store is close enough to one of their giant warehouses.  Otherwise... a small retail location couldn't possibly have a worthwhile selection.

Then again... you can already get 1-day or even same-day delivery in some cities.  So what's the point of a retail location?

"Nearly every major retail category was up, with the exception of electronics, primarily due to Apple"

When I think electronics... I don't think of the mall.

That might be part of the problem.

With Radio Shack mostly gone... what electronics stores are at the mall?

Some malls have Best Buy... but they are well over their 10,000 sqft cutoff.

Anyway... it's kinda weird to blame Apple for other stores' lack of growth.  Like I said... I'm not sure what "mall electronics stores" bring to the table.

Sidenote:  does anyone remember the organ store?  What was going on it that part of history that there were entire stores devoted to organs?

Mr_Grey said:

roake said:

A product line cannot grow forever.  This is why Apple is attempting to branch into other markets.  The trillion-dollar question is whether these endeavors will work out as planned; it's hard to knock it out of the park every single time.

 They could always reduce their huge profit margin to the same level as the other players, that would increase sales by a factor of ten probably.  If the iPhone is becoming a commodity device, maybe it should be priced accordingly instead of as if it were some kind of precious gem.  

The Apple iPhone only represents 15 out of 100 smartphones sold today.

How is that a commodity device?   

Mr_Grey said:

foggyhill said:

The rise of 40% of the US dollar over 2 years.... That's one major obstacle to buying in many places.
It may lead to you're #1, but the main factor is that.
Others are not a factor directly.

Indeed.  A 16Gb iPhone (commonly referred to on this forum as "useless"), costs one thousand dollars in Canada.  The prices are set to go up soon as well. 

I still think that the answer (not that Apple will ever take it) is to reduce prices.  Apple still has the highest margins of all tech companies.  Their profit on each product has been variously estimated at two or three times the profit the other manufacturers make.  

There are only so many rich people in the world.  They should try making a phone for the "regular" person instead of just the rich, if they truly want to dominate the market.  They could also try to be better world citizens and stop raping their customers for cash.  

This is the same company whose laptops start at $900.  I really don't think Apple cares about "regular" people.

Those people rely on Dell and HP to sell them profitless $300 laptops.  That's a market that Apple has always avoided.

BTW... don't they offer subsidized phone contracts or payment plans in Canada?  Is your only option to pay the full $1000 for an iPhone? 

I've had three iPhones so far in the US... and I've never had to pay the full price up front.  

The first two were on contract so a portion of my bill was paying for them... but my current 64GB iPhone 6S Plus is a manageable $35 a month on a payment plan.  

For comparison... flagship Samsung smartphones are around $30 a month on a payment plan.  So there's not much difference there.

sog35 said:

msantti said:

Hate Tim Cook much?

I dont hate the MAN. 
I hate the CEO.

I like Tim Cook as a person. He seems to be a great guy. I just don't think he is the guy to lead the most powerful business in the world. I think a better fit would be for Tim to head up the Red Cross or Doctors without Boards. We need a CEO who is not afraid of taking risks and getting his hands dirty.

If you're leading the most powerful business in the world... you don't wanna take too many big risks.  That could be trouble.

But I must ask... who would be a "better" CEO?  You know Steve Jobs chose Tim Cook as his successor, right?