Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Buying Up Touch Screens with Over 60% of Global Supply in 2011

This is one of the bass-ackwards stories.

It wasn't like the market was there and Apple started buying up everything.
Apple *made* the market. Before Apple the touch panel market was a small, out-of-the-way one.

Apple isn't doing anything bad here. They just got in first... by innovating.

Any other company that is willing to prepay 3.9 billion is going to be able get all the panels they want, too.
 
0815 said:
Looks like a smart investment of their pile of cash.
Click to expand...

Agreed, especially since this will hurt Android/Web OS tablet growth. I have a feeling this may cause a few Droid tablets to get canned or prices to go up so high that fragmented platform never has a chance. I will say that I'm surprised this will affect a company as large as HP, especially with their financial resources.
 
iSee said:
This is one of the bass-ackwards stories.

It wasn't like the market was there and Apple started buying up everything.
Apple *made* the market. Before Apple the touch panel market was a small, out-of-the-way one.

Apple isn't doing anything bad here. They just got in first... by innovating.

Any other company that is willing to prepay 3.9 billion is going to be able get all the panels they want, too.
Click to expand...

+ 1

Without Apple there wouldn't even BE a tablet market. Yeah, I'm sure Android tablets would have come out eventually but realistically they'd still be backwards. Hell, Android OS originally was modeled after Blackberry OS and it was only changed by Google after the success of the iPhone.
 
Mattsasa said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)

Originally posted by: Mr. Bigs
Get real !!! Windows is still way ahead of OSX and android has topped iOS some time ago. Lets not forget about your face ending a call because the proximity sensor isn't working properly or dropped calls because you didn't hold the phone the way Steve told you too. Come up for air please you drown in Apple sauce.


Sure windows is a head in markershare. But not technology wise. And you cannot deny that iOS and OSX have far less user problems and glitches than android and windows. But occluded windows and android are at a huge disadvantage that they need to make there software run on endless combinations of hardware. Where as iOS and OSX only have to run on apples computers. This why apples products always make it easiest on the consumer.
Click to expand...
This is also the reason Apple products are so closed ended.:rolleyes:
 
jrb363 said:
Agreed, especially since this will hurt Android/Web OS tablet growth. I have a feeling this may cause a few Droid tablets to get canned or prices to go up so high that fragmented platform never has a chance. I will say that I'm surprised this will affect a company as large as HP, especially with their financial resources.
Click to expand...

Don't care about that 'hurting' part ... but at least they make sure that they have enough components to fulfill the ever increasing demand of their devices - it got ridiculous how slow the iPad got rolled out around the world because of production limitations due to increasing demand.
 
E.Lizardo said:
Some of you people are hilarious.

When there were shortages of iPads and delayed rollouts it was Apple being evil deliberately constraining supply for some imagined publicity benefit,as if NOT selling a product increases sales.

Now that they have taken steps to ensure uninterrupted supply by pre-paying(which,as others have said,helps finance increased capacity for all),they are evil for taking away panels from the losers who weren't even interested in this type of device until Apple's came out.

I think we got it-Apple,and not doubt every company on Earth is evil in your eyes not matter what.Very insightful.
Click to expand...

Are not people so grand, bitch bitch bitch. Is there anything that could make them happy? Oh wait free iPad! I can see it now, what is apple up to, are they going under, bla bla bla. :D
 
Eff the dividends

Richard1028 said:
Some would disagree. Sitting on $60B in cash and paying no dividends to shareholders...
Click to expand...

That's right EFFF the dividend and forget share buybacks too.

This is a perfect example of why Apple should not pay a dividend until the accelerating growth slows. This kind of strategic planning is an important component of maintaing that growth. Nothing provides flexibility like CASH!
 
arcite said:
Apple is the greatest American company in the history of civilization.
Click to expand...

LOL - Apple is the latest toy-maker.

When history is written, companies like Boeing, Ford, Digital and IBM will be recognized as truly changing the playing field.

Apple will be a footnote filed under "shiny toys".
 
farmboy said:
Would you rather get a buck and a quarter a share dividend or have each share increase $100 a year? Not that they are mutually exclusive, just that they way they're running the company is giving you great ROI.
Click to expand...
A shareholder might think that a company is doing well with their products but poorly with managing their cash reserves. They might also simply be opposed, on principle, to letting any single company become too big.
 
AidenShaw said:
LOL - Apple is the latest toy-maker.

When history is written, companies like Boeing, Ford, Digital and IBM will be recognized as truly changing the playing field.

Apple will be a footnote filed under "shiny toys".
Click to expand...

Bull crap. Even if you ignore everything Apple has done now they're already in the history books.
 
AidenShaw said:
For the Apple ][ , though.
Click to expand...
Yes, so even then they're still in the history books, but we all know that the iPhone completely changed the phone industry and the iPad may very well change mobile computing (but we don't know yet so let's ignore that).
 
camelsnot said:
really a silly article. Apple is only buying the specific model of touch screen it needs to fulfill its designs. This has nothing to do with other vendors who are using screens from other manufacturers and/or at different sizes. I love how Apple media twist a story around to boost the lovin'.
Click to expand...

Methinks, it is you that is twisting. While Apple is only buying the designs they need, that doesn't mean that they are picking out of a catalog of models. It means that 60% of all possible production is tuned to make whatever screens Apple is ordering.

You seem to think these factories are making all kinds of screens and sticking them in a warehouse so that various companies can order what fits their needs. It's the other way around.

Furthermore, if a factory gears up to make screens to fulfill Apple's orders, then they can become very efficient at making this one screen. Other factories that set up production lines to make far smaller runs of screens to fulfill competitive orders will never reach the productive levels to offer the low prices Apple enjoys.

In the history of components it is important that manufactures don't over-build the capacity to produce. What happened years ago with memory chips is still a lesson not forgotten.
 
jrb363 said:
Agreed, especially since this will hurt Android/Web OS tablet growth. I have a feeling this may cause a few Droid tablets to get canned or prices to go up so high that fragmented platform never has a chance. I will say that I'm surprised this will affect a company as large as HP, especially with their financial resources.
Click to expand...

While HP is successful and makes a lot of money, I don't think they keep much on hand, compared to Apple.

Furthermore, it takes some giant balls to put $3.9b on one component of a product you have only essentially test-marketed for less than a year. Imagine if the creator of the "Pet Rock" had went out and bought up 60% of the world's supply of smooth river rocks after having success with the craze for a few months?
 
SandynJosh said:
Imagine if the creator of the "Pet Rock" had went out and bought up 60% of the world's supply of smooth river rocks after having success with the craze for a few months?
Click to expand...

OT- I do remember that he had a surplus after the fad faded. Attempted to get a write off by donating them to charity....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back