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The key term being "gross" profit. That is, income covering COGS, but before sales, marketing, Apple store costs, blah blah blah. A more important number would be EBITDA because it takes these expenses into account.

You are correct.
 
Except, Apple's not a phone manufacturer...

Presumably, you are emphasizing the word "manufacturer" and intending to discredit Apple because the phone is not assembled in their own facilities.

The word manufacturer, in this context, means:

"the organized action of making of goods and services for sale"

I think Apple qualifies.
 
I don't think Nokia will regain that rank any time soon, even with their adoption of winblows 7.
 
I'm daring to say that the impact the iPhone caused in people's lives also made the Mac more attractive to them.

Believe it or not, I still don't have an iPhone, but several of my friends do. Several of them even told me that the iPhone changed their lives ( ? ). Some were Mac haterz, but now own more than one Mac. :D

They must not have had much of a life if a phone did that much for them.
:D

There are an awful lot of share holders in this thread.... of course this is just an assumption because people are cheer apple for having the highest gross pf any maker. why does that matter to iphone buying customers...

The sad thing is, there probably very few shareholders in any of these breast beating look how much money Apple is making threads. The only people I know who were happy when Exxon made record profits were substantial shareholders, not a bunch of 14 year old kids.
 

Ballmer isn't a good leader in this tech world. He has no vision. When Steve Jobs talks, he explains things. When Ballmer talks he makes excuses. The guy is so out of touch. Remember when he said the app store wouldn't make any money. Apple has paid out over two billion to devs. He's a buffoon.
MS is losing ground daily. They better wake up soon.
 
images of asia

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me.
 
That being said, I don't think Ballmer deserves all the heat he is getting for those statements.
Sure he does. All the heat and more. Why? Because in the case of Apple, it wasn't just statements that expressed doubt in Apple's strategy, but it was the disdain in which he ridiculed and mocked Apple and the incredible product that they just announced. It was all bluster to mask his fear. He was incredibly rude and he deserves the heat. And then some, actually.

If the iPhone had remained a $500 product, with a 2 year contract, I doubt it would be selling even a tenth of what it does now.
Ginormous and Incredibly humongous IF you put out there.

Ballmer did not recognize that Apple had the ability to change its plans. And that changing a pricing plan was far easier than changing your entire software ecosystem (which is what MS is having to do to compete).
Right -- instead of being a blow-hard, laughing at Apple, he should've been getting his strategy in order. We're just getting Windows Phone 7 and the iPhone has been out since June 2007 — 4 years?! Amazing. And you say he shouldn't have heat on him? Sorry, but that's just crazy.
 
presuming 'plip plop', 'androidforlife' and old 'friends' like 'full of ****' will be sitting this thread out until there's other news more to their in-doctrine.

Sorry I was in class. Where are we?
FYI im not really a fanboy, I like apple. I just don't like people who cannot stand to let another option be around. It doesn't matter to me which company gets the market share, profits, the ladies or what every you want to brag about. Neither one is disappearing anytime soon. In three years I shall graduate and seek employment from one of them. And when I get hired...

Remember Jobs saying how awesome the iPod was and how it was going to do SO MUCH and revolutionize the computer industry, etc. etc., I can't recall the exact words...

Everyone liked the iPod, but we just sat there scratching our heads. An mp3 player. It was an mp3 player. Had no idea what he was aiming for. Though the iPhone is a hit and did revolutionize the phone industry, the iPad is now revolutionizing the entire computer market, and who knows what comes beyond.

To be honest I think tablets are taking the Computer industry back. There are a few reasons.
1. All tablets require a real computer. (except Asus slate. It has an i5 and runs windows 7)
2. Their are cheaper laptops net books out there. 250 dollar Asus does more than any tablet.
3. It cost more to make a netbook. when you factor in the CPU being an Intel or AMD and not a cheap A5 or tegra. requires more ram. needs a physical Keyboard. When Touch panels run around 25-40 bucks you can see why it seems odd to pay 500 dollars for one of these. There are a few I though of buying. ASUS transformer caught my eye.
4. I need to do real portable computing I.E. Note taking. I am not taking class note on any tablet until they include a physical keyboard.

The Nook is a Ereader that can double as a tablet. It lacks Accelerometer, GPS, and camera it cost 250.



This is why I don't understand why analysts and Wall Street are so hyped up over Android's smartphone market share. Supposedly Wall Street is supposed to be concerned with finance and revenue-making business models. Where is all the revenue that Android is making? I'm guessing once the rapid growth ends, Android will be more trouble than it's worth. Only HTC and Samsung seem to be making any money from Android. Motorola and LG certainly aren't. They're always talking about Android crushing iOS in some harmful fashion, but they must be using some perfect projection that won't necessarily hold true depending on whether Apple changes the smartphone industry again.

I realize Android has had fantastic growth, but it's to be expected somewhat considering most cellphone vendors didn't have a modern smartphone OS and Android is free for the taking. In some ways, taking the Google shortcut could be damaging in the long run if Google loses interest in supporting Android. Especially if they're losing money supporting Android. Who will mainly decide what platform comes out on top is the consumer who is willing to pay top dollar to own a quality device. iOS's business model will be sustainable for years to come if overall smartphone growth continues thanks in part of economies of scale spread over at least four similar iOS devices.

I think we can all agree android is not disappearing anytime soon. Their are a lot of android phones that compete directly with the iPhone in specs and Price those phones still sell very reasonable numbers. In fact those phones are starting to sell more. Also we can also all agree that android OS is pushing apple to add more competitive features to iOS. Would you have multitasking if it was not for android. No Steve said it was unneeded.
 
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Awesome! Nokia is going down with wp7.
 
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