Apple CEO Tim Cook 'The Smartphone Market is Very Healthy'

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

MacRumors members in Sept 2017: "The iPhone X is too expensive. It's going to be a failure."

Once again the iPhone X is the best selling iPhone model.

The majority of MacRumors members have along track record of showing a complete inability to predict success, sales, etc.

 

[Wide opeN]

Yup. I’ve upgraded every 2 years since my 3GS. If Apple insists on $1000+ flagship phones, I’ll go to a 3 year upgrade cycle with a battery replacement at year 1.5. That price is unreasonable for every two years. They’ll net less money that way too.

This is me... Heck, I'm proposing every 5 years for me and my other 4 lines. I will not be made to think a $1000 phone is necessary.

 

[MBAir2010]

Todd Cookd aint atootng!
What other thing can you legal use while driving a vehicle?

 

[Elwe]

I just do not get it, either. It simply must be willful ignorance/disbelief.

If you look the last five years or so, name another "tech" company that has performed better. Not just in terms of the stock price, but also based on fundamentals (overall top and bottom lines, cash, stickiness, spreading business lines that are profitable). You can make an argument about Apple vs a hypergrowth story/company, but right now, if you had to pick one company *in the world* . . . that you could choose only one company to invest in in the long run, it has to be Apple. If you had to choose only one maker of consumer electronics that you would want to purchase several things you absolutely use day-to-day from, it would have to be Apple.

Thankfully, we do not have to choose one. But for all that is holy, the foretellings of imminent doom need to be laughed at long and loud until they die. I've told plenty of older people who despair about the failing of GE that they have had a worthy replacement to line up behind for a good while now. In this case, just be like Buffet . . . just look around. And look over years. I can think of many, many reasons Facebook or Twitter (or even Google and Amazon) could crater 20% or more tomorrow. Or completely miss on revenue estimates. I honestly do not see how that would happen with Apple. If if Cook or Ive get hit by self-driving Teslas tomorrow, I cannot foresee substantial immediate/near-term effect. There is just too much talent on the bench, too much in the pipeline, and too much current product people are willing to buy. If Zuckerberg or Bezos die . . . I do not even want to consider it, as both a Facebook and Amazon shareholder (though admittedly and thankfully much less of a shareholder in the case of Facebook).

If all you are saying is that they do not thrill you anymore with their products . . . well, OK. It's is a crass comparison, but I think very differently of some of the people I have "dated" vs those who I would have ever considered marrying. This says more about me, I think, than them.

I'll get off my soapbox.

 

[JosephAW]

Translation: The market is saturated.

 

[Rookbird]

My phone replacement cycles are lengthening mainly because the newer models have gotten so expensive and it feels wasteful to upgrade for the sake of upgrading.

I'm currently on a iPhone 6s plus 128 gig and it works fine. sure the camera isn't as good as the latest models but it does everything else well.

And there is no real revolutionary technology in the new phones either. I was always excited to upgrade to the newest phone...not anymore. I’ll probably skip 2 generations before I upgrade again.

 

[Thai]

Yup. I’ve upgraded every 2 years since my 3GS. If Apple insists on $1000+ flagship phones, I’ll go to a 3 year upgrade cycle with a battery replacement at year 1.5. That price is unreasonable for every two years. They’ll net less money that way too.

Who is making you upgrade every 2 years? Is Apple holding a gun to your head? As iOS 12 proves, Apple is more than happy to support their iPhones 5 or more years. Sure, you may need battery replacements here and there in between but Apple will gladly support you.

For $1000, it is still pretty good deal if you keep X for 3 or more years. And don't forget...X has AMAZING RESALE VALUE!!!! 85% retention value as of this month...even this late in the cycle!!

Translation: The market is saturated.

In response, Cook said that he believes the smartphone market is "very healthy. "It's the best market to be in for someone in the business that we're in," said Cook. "Whether it grows one percent or two percent or five percent or six percent or 10 percent or shrinks one or two percent, it's a great market because it's just huge."

 

[CodeJingle]

One topic on this board is the way Apple is operated these days and how they perform, especially in terms of innovation and pricing over the years.

i agree on pricing. price is escalating. but price escalated before. there is a biorythm to it. apple IIci started at about $9k. apple has also sold products that were overpriced and not very innovative. like the ipod hifi, which was a $350 speaker with no siri back in 2006. the percentage of shotty overpriced products the company has introduced over the lifetime of the company seems to be about the same before, during, and after steve jobs. give everyone's opinion the same amount of weight and maybe a few feedback from others can give you a fresh perspective.

 

[Bin Cook]

Your signature is telling a lot about your relationship with Apple...

Shame that posters are not forced to declare their stock holding in AAPL, it would explain much of the vomit-inducing praise for Tim Cook’s reign.

 

[Thai]

Shame that posters are not forced to declare their stock holding in AAPL, it would explain much of the vomit-inducing praise for Tim Cook’s reign.

The praise comes after the quarter financials for well earned management.

You should praise HTC or ESSENTIAL CEOs.

 

[forerunnerg34]

And? I like to buy quality products. Sorry if that offends your low IQ neurons.
[doublepost=1533078588][/doublepost]

Yup! Good to see appreciation of smart buys.

Are people like this the new Apple users?

 

[chatin]

That year over year sales number is pretty scary. Missed Wall Street estimates but offered rosy guidance so the stock is not falling. Everything about to break loose if they don't fix the X.

 

[neutralguy]

Are people like this the new Apple users?

According to apple fans, the non-apple users are deplorables!

 

[neutralguy]

Look, in all honesty, Apple is still doing excellent. As I have said always in my posts, that Apple has figured out a way to mint money from iPhone by having annual upgrade plans. People don't mind shelling out 50$/month for a new iPhone every year. And also they like the incremental feature roll outs by Apple. You can't blame Apple. When the ship is sailing smooth, why rock it.

But the one factor that we all are missing or for that matter apple is not saying (even though they know it) is that all these because of the booming economy. For any reason, if there is even a small crash, you know where Apple will land. It will come crashing down. Apple is repeating history. Hopefully, this time there will be another rescue because Steve Jobs is not here to being a radical product into the market.

 

[Mr. Dee]

Didn't he say the same thing about iPads and looked what happened?

 

[I7guy]

Look, in all honesty, Apple is still doing excellent. As I have said always in my posts, that Apple has figured out a way to mint money from iPhone by having annual upgrade plans. People don't mind shelling out 50$/month for a new iPhone every year. And also they like the incremental feature roll outs by Apple. You can't blame Apple. When the ship is sailing smooth, why rock it.

But the one factor that we all are missing or for that matter apple is not saying (even though they know it) is that all these because of the booming economy. For any reason, if there is even a small crash, you know where Apple will land. It will come crashing down. Apple is repeating history. Hopefully, this time there will be another rescue because Steve Jobs is not here to being a radical product into the market.

If the economy comes crashing I would think all companies that depend on disposable income would suffer. It's a chain reaction. People stop buying apple. Apple stops ordering custom SOCs from Samsung. People stop buying Samsung phones. And on and on.

 

[Sam_S]

Sorry, Tim, but all Apple is doing right now is relying mostly on their success before Steve was gone. The iPhone X is a good phone, but it’s not a revolution. It’s an iPhone. At a ridiculous price point. The Mac has almost been forgotten, the MacBook Pro for example has lost many features like MagSafe, indicator light, mostly all ports and everything is soldered and glued together... why? What is the benefit for the user? I don’t get it. Removing features is not an improvement just by doing so! Also the price is a joke. The touch bar is a nice gimmick, but it’s not optional so I have to buy this piece of emoji display ****. The keyboard... worst typing on an Apple keyboard, ever. The HomePod is an overpriced speaker with a very sad Siri that still feels like in beta and the price is a joke, again. I could go on and on, but the point is: Apple is still earning the fruits of their success from the past, but it won’t last forever. There is nothing innovative anymore, just minor upgrades at premium prices. Correct me if I’m wrong, but to me, Apple is going down, in all it’s shiny glory. Money won’t rescue them.

The problem is they have huge cash reserves so they aren't forced to innovate because Timmy can stroll around and think he's doing a good job. That's the problem when you have an accountant running a company, they look at the numbers, not what got them there. They look at costs, hence why they cut the MacOS team and merged all the software engineers together. Thats not innovation its cutting costs so Timmy can get his big annual bonus...

 

[Val-kyrie]

Apple has seen mid-single digit growth averages on a weekly sales basis and double-digit growth on an ASP basis.​

N.B. This is Apple's guiding philosophy.

 

[Thai]

Look, in all honesty, Apple is still doing excellent. As I have said always in my posts, that Apple has figured out a way to mint money from iPhone by having annual upgrade plans. People don't mind shelling out 50$/month for a new iPhone every year. And also they like the incremental feature roll outs by Apple. You can't blame Apple. When the ship is sailing smooth, why rock it.

But the one factor that we all are missing or for that matter apple is not saying (even though they know it) is that all these because of the booming economy. For any reason, if there is even a small crash, you know where Apple will land. It will come crashing down. Apple is repeating history. Hopefully, this time there will be another rescue because Steve Jobs is not here to being a radical product into the market.

Radical product? Apple Watch doing pretty well....

And if market crashes, everyone suffers. Companies with deep reserves do better. Who has deep reserves??

 

[neutralguy]

If the economy comes crashing I would think all companies that depend on disposable income would suffer. It's a chain reaction. People stop buying apple. Apple stops ordering custom SOCs from Samsung. People stop buying Samsung phones. And on and on.

True. I completely agree. But I think you missed my point. You are leading to Samaung. But Samsung is not all about smartphone. Samsung has thousand other businesses to lean on. Apple has.. fill in the blanks.

 

[Thai]

True. I completely agree. But I think you missed my point. You are leading to Samaung. But Samsung is not all about smartphone. Samsung has thousand other businesses to lean on. Apple has.. fill in the blanks.

Samsung fridge is sure to sell well if we have Depression! Samsung memory chips for mobile will do great too!!

Oh wait...never mind.

To some, iPhones represent combination of stuff that is vital to their happiness. Gaming. Movies. Navigation. Communication. Etc.

 

[hellopupy]

Its no surprise that Apple has such a huge quarter in the same quarter that the US GDP growth was 4%. Economy is strong, people are spending.

 

[NIKKG]

Just because Samsung just confirmed that the S9 was a flop, doesn't mean the whole industry is bad.

Samsung apologists are desperate and that shows.

It's not only Apple demonstrating that, other brands are all growing well, Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo/OnePlus, etc. in fact, they are demonstrating it even better.

S9 is a flop because the S8 was too good, smartphones have matured. I got the Note 8, really great phone, not sure if I should get the Note 9 or Pixel 3 or next iPhone or just keep my Note 8 another year. Before I would get a new flagship phone every 3 to 6 months, now I'm keeping it a full year and might go for a 2nd year with my Note 8. Times have changed because the phones have gotten real good now and not worth wasting money on upgrading.

 

[neutralguy]

Samsung fridge is sure to sell well if we have Depression! Samsung memory chips for mobile will do great too!!

Oh wait...never mind.

To some, iPhones represent combination of stuff that is vital to their happiness. Gaming. Movies. Navigation. Communication. Etc.

If you want to be ignorant about Samsung, then be my guest. And please, don't compare Samsung conglomerate to Apple. At least, read up on Samsung. Also, Samsung does make low price products too.
It's one thing to have a healthy debate, it's another to just be a blind fan!

 

[NIKKG]

True. I completely agree. But I think you missed my point. You are leading to Samaung. But Samsung is not all about smartphone. Samsung has thousand other businesses to lean on. Apple has.. fill in the blanks.

I think I saw a show once that said Samsung was like 20% GDP of South Korea. That's insane, they truly are too big to fail, the whole country depends on them.