Apple Reports 1Q 2019 Results: Nearly $20B Profit on $84.3B Revenue, Second-Best Quarter Ever Despite Earnings Warning

[PickUrPoison]

Can someone explain the re-allocation of amortized value from products to services? It was all the analysts were talking about a week ago, and the call comes and goes, and Apple says, "Hey, services grew 19%" while not disclosing how much of that 19% growth was from reallocation of revenue. Seems like shenanigans to me.

The CFO gave the impact of the re-classification but I don’t remember it offhand, you’ll have to check the transcript. The 19% was after normalizing for the accounting change.

The change to revenue recognition methods affected many public (and private) companies, e.g. more than 400 of the S&P 500. The change was implemented through the accounting standards board and Apple had no choice in the matter. In order for their financials to be compliant with generally acceptable accounting principles, they were required to make the change.

 

[BuddyTronic]

Firstly, it’s actually against forum rules to tell others to search for the information themselves that back up your claims..
Secondly, that 38% means absolutely nothing to you investors, you should know that, the iPhone slumped in sales and investors promptly wiped 400 billion off Apples value in 2 months....

Actually, it is the “services” and wearables and other Apple hardware (ie: that 38%) other than iPhone that showed big growth and was seen by “investors” as a reason to buy up AAPL shares today.

 

[GuruZac]

Apple would get a major boost to sales if they updated the Mac line. Since Cook took over, the Mac line has had more issues with longer intervals between releases and it is starting to feel like he is looking to kill off the Mac.

I think what is going on here is Apple has scavenged people and resources form Mac development to take advantage of the cash-cow that the iPhone has become. Since we now live in a world of government shutdowns and trade wars, people are feeling the pinch or are bracing for one. A lot of people are now too nervous to dump the cash on a status symbol that has in turn created a finical bubble that is now on the edge of bursting. If the economy does not improve devices like the iPhone and iWatch are going to drop off to a fraction of what they are now. At the same time Mac sales, form the lack of updated hardware combined with buggy software, will drop off as people go with cheaper alternatives, perhaps generating a temporary boost to iPad sales in the next few years as people use iPads to replace full computers due to the price.

What Apple should do is; each mouth a product has been available to the public, degrade 1% off the base price, this drop off in profit would be a great encouragement to update current lines of neglected products like the Mac, while giving people a break from the bloated Apple prices.

While I agree with part of what you are saying, I think we cannot forget that many of the things people used to have to buy a computer for just 10 years ago, they can now just about get by with their iPhone. This is what Steve Jobs always wanted. A pocket computer that allows you to be both productive and connected. I think Mac sales will remain a small part of Apple's overall revenue because classic computers aren't as necessary. Were it not for a couple of coursework assignments online for me that require MacOS or Windows, I could get by entirely as a medical student on my iPad Pro and iPhone. I don't think Apple is neglecting Mac development for malicious reasons but more so as the entire computing industry has changed very quickly.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

Excellent quarter?! Hardly the proper definition for a company that lost a third of its value in a couple of months. Apple is now worth less than Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft by tens of billions of dollars. That's not a pretty sight for loyal Apple investors. What you consider excellent and what Wall Street considers excellent is quite a huge gap. Plenty of analysts have downgraded Apple to Hold because they know in their hearts Apple is in the toilet and that the iPhone business is being ruined by cheap Android smartphones made in China. Apple seems to be unaware the iPhone is being ripped to shreds by tech-heads who believe Android smartphones costing half the price of iPhones are better for consumers. Apple is the most poorly valued major tech stock by quite a margin and everyone knows this except Tim Cook.

Apple being doomed isn't a theory. It's a quarterly fact how investors never know how far Apple is going to fall. Apple investors can never say for certain Apple stock is going up after earnings. Earnings is a crap shoot for investors. It's just as likely Apple is doomed as not doomed. You watch as analysts tear this earnings report apart and arrive at the conclusion that next quarter will bring even more pain for Apple shareholders which means Apple is doomed next quarter, for sure. Analysts will say iPhone sales will be even worse next quarter and if that isn't giving Apple the kiss of doom, then nothing is.

Excellent isn't the right term to describe Apple's quarter. Questionable would be much better a term.

Hmmmm....
If you don’t recognize the difference between “having an excellent quarter” (you know... like actually backed up by factual financial evidence) & “being a hot stock right now” (which can sometimes run COMPLETELY counter to financials, based on pure investor whimsy), you may want to step down off the pedestal and let someone else’s voice go hoarse instead.

 

[Abazigal]

360M subscriber? I doubt this number, subscribed to what?

People who say Apple is doomed, its not going to happen in 6 months...its an "eventually" in the near future. 5-7 years. This scenario happened in other markets. No one imagined a cellphone market without Nokia, or videogames market without Sega, or the whole Japanese electronics manufacturers become no names! Its all about the Samsung and LGs now!

I am not saying its going to happen but if Apple keeps neglecting the Mac, rise the prices of the iphone, and investing in singing in the car tv shows... yes it will happen. It happened to the Commodore, Compaq, IBM...they all left the market.

Here’s what I believe will happen.

Apple is clearly transitioning to wearables. The Apple Watch will eventually gain independence from the iphone and form its own ecosystem of connected wearables.

The Mac isn’t going anywhere, but it will become more niche. It’s price and refresh cycle will continue to increase to reflect the role that Apple is content to let it play, as they devote more resources to focus on other areas such as wearables.

As such, I maintain that Apple will succeed precisely because they are willing to neglect the Mac, not despite neglecting it.

Meanwhile, the ipad continues to gain more functionality as Apple continues to position it as the general purpose computer for the masses.

People will hold on to their iPhones longer, but that will be compensated by people spending more on wearables (Apple Watch, airpods, AR glasses, smart clothing even?).

As for self-driving cars, I suspect Apple isn’t so much aiming to sell their own cars (Tesla has shown that there is a limit to how much people are willing to pay for a high-end electric car), and this market is not big enough for Apple to make it worth their while. Rather, I believe Apple will enter the autonomous, ride-sharing market, meaning they are gunning for a piece of the country’s infrastructure, not just selling a few cars.

I think we all know what Apple is up to. What we disagree on is whether what Apple is currently doing is the right move for them to make in the long run, or if will result in their inevitable decline.

Time will tell, as always.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Here’s what I believe will happen.

Apple is clearly transitioning to wearables. The Apple Watch will eventually gain independence from the iphone and form its own ecosystem of connected wearables.

The Mac isn’t going anywhere, but it will become more niche. It’s price and refresh cycle will continue to increase to reflect the role that Apple is content to let it play, as they devote more resources to focus on other areas such as wearables.

As such, I maintain that Apple will succeed precisely because they are willing to neglect the Mac, not despite neglecting it.

Meanwhile, the ipad continues to gain more functionality as Apple continues to position it as the general purpose computer for the masses.

People will hold on to their iPhones longer, but that will be compensated by people spending more on wearables (Apple Watch, airpods, AR glasses, smart clothing even?).

As for self-driving cars, I suspect Apple isn’t so much aiming to sell their own cars (Tesla has shown that there is a limit to how much people are willing to pay for a high-end electric car), and this market is not big enough for Apple to make it worth their while. Rather, I believe Apple will enter the autonomous, ride-sharing market, meaning they are gunning for a piece of the country’s infrastructure, not just selling a few cars.

I think we all know what Apple is up to. What we disagree on is whether what Apple is currently doing is the right move for them to make in the long run, or if will result in their inevitable decline.

Time will tell, as always.

Apple’s services will continue to grow imo. As time as gone on and I’ve become more invested in the ecosystem my uptake of their services has increased. I pay for iCloud storage, Apple Music, I spent about £50-60 a month on iTunes content and I use Apple Pay almost every day. My husband also subscribes to Apple Music on android. I have Apple care on a few of my devices. I’m sure I’m not unique in this. There are probably lots of people like me.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple’s services will continue to grow imo. As time as gone on and I’ve become more invested in the ecosystem my uptake of their services has increased. I pay for iCloud storage, Apple Music, I spent about £50-60 a month on iTunes content and I use Apple Pay almost every day. My husband also subscribes to Apple Music on android. I have Apple care on a few of my devices. I’m sure I’m not unique in this. There are probably lots of people like me.

I have the 50 gb iCloud subscription and use Apple Music but I don’t spend on iTunes, and I don’t think Apple Pay really earns Apple all that much in revenue (it’s probably a rounding error on their balance sheet). The only AppleCare I bought was for my iMac. Seems like we are the direct opposite.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I have the 50 gb iCloud subscription and use Apple Music but I don’t spend on iTunes, and I don’t think Apple Pay really earns Apple all that much in revenue (it’s probably a rounding error on their balance sheet). The only AppleCare I bought was for my iMac. Seems like we are the direct opposite.

I have the 2 TB plan as I was on the 200 GB one and I was using about 180 GB. I have 2 iPads and my iPhone backed up to iCloud and my MacBook Air backed up.

 

[Abazigal]

I have the 2 TB plan as I was on the 200 GB one and I was using about 180 GB. I have 2 iPads and my iPhone backed up to iCloud and my MacBook Air backed up.

How do you use that much iCloud storage?

 

[Momof2.1107]

I pay for 200GB if iCloud storage, Apple Music and have AppleCare+ through my carrier. I also have a iPhone, iPad Pro 10.5, iPad Mini 2 and we all share a MacBook. My daughter share iCloud storage with me on her iPhone and iPad and I’m looking to upgrade my mini 2 to the mini 5, when it’s released. I don’t really purchase In-App subscriptions or Paid apps unless it’s something I really want.

 

[Shanghaichica]

How do you use that much iCloud storage?

I don’t know I think it’s because I’m using a lot of iCloud Drive storage on my MBA. I only have 128GB of storage on my Mac so I rely heavily on iCloud Drive.

 

[I7guy]

May be so....Apple Pay requires special PoS device. Samsung Pay uses existing PoS devices much simpler implementation. Also, in my place contactless cash wallets use QR Code for Merchant Payments and I have done as big as $1200 using such methods. Apple Pay is unnecessary in most of the places in our region

To support chips in cards, vendors must get new POS readers to support the cards with chips. The new POS readers support NFC. So your post is incorrect. It seems to not support Apple Pay (Walmart) has be to the exception not the rule. Samsung Pay is outdated, at least here in the US.

 

[ipponrg]

Here’s what I believe will happen.

Apple is clearly transitioning to wearables. The Apple Watch will eventually gain independence from the iphone and form its own ecosystem of connected wearables.

The Mac isn’t going anywhere, but it will become more niche. It’s price and refresh cycle will continue to increase to reflect the role that Apple is content to let it play, as they devote more resources to focus on other areas such as wearables.

As such, I maintain that Apple will succeed precisely because they are willing to neglect the Mac, not despite neglecting it.

Meanwhile, the ipad continues to gain more functionality as Apple continues to position it as the general purpose computer for the masses.

People will hold on to their iPhones longer, but that will be compensated by people spending more on wearables (Apple Watch, airpods, AR glasses, smart clothing even?).

As for self-driving cars, I suspect Apple isn’t so much aiming to sell their own cars (Tesla has shown that there is a limit to how much people are willing to pay for a high-end electric car), and this market is not big enough for Apple to make it worth their while. Rather, I believe Apple will enter the autonomous, ride-sharing market, meaning they are gunning for a piece of the country’s infrastructure, not just selling a few cars.

I think we all know what Apple is up to. What we disagree on is whether what Apple is currently doing is the right move for them to make in the long run, or if will result in their inevitable decline.

Time will tell, as always.

I think the Apple Watch has some ground to cover before it can be independent. It’s still entirely dependent on the iPhone. It also has the problem where development for it is very niche. The watch is not an encompassing device that can cover as many use cases that a phone covers.

The smart phone is basically the form factor of a PDA, cell phone, and a primitive gaming machine. Unless they make the watch into a sophisticated Dick Tracy watch, it still has a limited use case

Im sure Apple is trying to find ways to iterate on the watch to appease sales targets.

Im not sure what the overall value is with autonomous ride sharing other than trying to eliminate the middle man. That won’t really see the light of day in cities that need it (e.g. NYC)

There isn’t anything niche about the Mac. Its use cases are today are still the same as it was many years ago. For example, devs need a Mac to develop your beloved Apple apps and to support your entire internet infrastructure.

 

[Abazigal]

I think the Apple Watch has some ground to cover before it can be independent. It’s still entirely dependent on the iPhone. It also has the problem where development for it is very niche. The watch is not an encompassing device that can cover as many use cases that a phone covers.

The smart phone is basically the form factor of a PDA, cell phone, and a primitive gaming machine. Unless they make the watch into a sophisticated Dick Tracy watch, it still has a limited use case

Im sure Apple is trying to find ways to iterate on the watch to appease sales targets.

Im not sure what the overall value is with autonomous ride sharing other than trying to eliminate the middle man. That won’t really see the light of day in cities that need it (e.g. NYC)

There isn’t anything niche about the Mac. Its use cases are today are still the same as it was many years ago. For example, devs need a Mac to develop your beloved Apple apps and to support your entire internet infrastructure.

I am not saying the smartphone will go away, but it seems to be starting to resemble a PC in terms of upgrade cycles as well. I foresee a future (probably 4-6 years down the road) where consumers hold on to their iPhones for 4-5 years on average, maybe longer, and that's really the norm.

The Apple Watch will be to the iPhone what the smartphone was to the computer - to let you perform certain tasks more quickly and conveniently. It's practically taking a page out of the iPod playbook, but I think Apple is content to continue milking the iPhone for what it's worth for the time being.

For me, owning a car has never made financial sense, when it basically sits unutilised in a parking lot for 80-90% of the time. Autonomous ride-sharing would basically make car ownership redundant, so it makes sense to me that Apple isn't looking to sell cars. My guess is that Apple believes that with its design-led culture, there is room to rethink the whole transportation experience.

And you don't need the Mac to be refreshed every year in order to develop apps for iOS. That's probably the only reason why Apple hasn't dumped the Mac yet; you still need the Mac to develop those precious iPhone apps.

 

[ipponrg]

And you don't need the Mac to be refreshed every year in order to develop apps for iOS. That's probably the only reason why Apple hasn't dumped the Mac yet; you still need the Mac to develop those precious iPhone apps.

That was just one example. You forgot about anything cpu or gpu intensive such as cutting 4K or 8k videos or running multiple VMs. Yes both cases are common.

I am not saying the smartphone will go away, but it seems to be starting to resemble a PC in terms of upgrade cycles as well.

That wasn’t my point. My point is the watch is extremely niche. It will never be what the iPhone was to the computer due to its form factor. There is a big reason why some people crave bigger iPhone screens.

Autonomous ride-sharing would basically make car ownership redundant, so it makes sense to me that Apple isn't looking to sell cars

I wasn’t talking about selling cars either. I was speaking of Apple wanted to get into the autonomous car space to solve for a problem in areas that don’t need the problems solved, such as the Bay Area.

 

[Ramchi]

Apple’s services will continue to grow imo. As time as gone on and I’ve become more invested in the ecosystem my uptake of their services has increased. I pay for iCloud storage, Apple Music, I spent about £50-60 a month on iTunes content and I use Apple Pay almost every day. My husband also subscribes to Apple Music on android. I have Apple care on a few of my devices. I’m sure I’m not unique in this. There are probably lots of people like me.

You sound like very unique to me !

Used to pay $1.5 a month for 100 GB storage in iCloud which I stopped after selling my iPhone 7 Plus, iTunes are useless in my region where Music is completely not in my taste. AppleCare I used to have for my 2013 MacBooPro (extended until 2016) after that never planned to purchase such expensive plans. My annual $80 Office 365 subscription gives me 1 TB storage for 5 accounts which I share it and MS Office Suite.

Really amazing to know people can spend this much monthly on just services apartment mobile, broadband, cable, utilities etc...

 

[Mac4Brains]

While I agree with part of what you are saying, I think we cannot forget that many of the things people used to have to buy a computer for just 10 years ago, they can now just about get by with their iPhone. This is what Steve Jobs always wanted. A pocket computer that allows you to be both productive and connected. I think Mac sales will remain a small part of Apple's overall revenue because classic computers aren't as necessary. Were it not for a couple of coursework assignments online for me that require MacOS or Windows, I could get by entirely as a medical student on my iPad Pro and iPhone. I don't think Apple is neglecting Mac development for malicious reasons but more so as the entire computing industry has changed very quickly.

Part of what I was saying is that if Apple wanted the Mac to sell better they would need to update them. The iMac mini, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air have been updated but it has been (as of 2-7-19):

iMac Pro=420 days (Over a year)
iMac=612 days (just under TWO years)
MacBook=612 days (Just under TWO years)
Mac Pro=1876 days (OVER FIVE YEARS)

In the case of the Mac Pro, with the normal obsolescence of six years for a Mac, the Mac Pro is almost at that point now. Apple should be updating the full line of Mac's every year at minimal. If we look at the what I said about reducing the price of Macs 1% every month, that would make the Mac Pro 62% cheaper for technology that is now five years out of date and about what it is worth now at that age. Instead of charging the same price that it was originally sold for. Insurance companies called this depreciation. Think about how many models of iPhone came out during that same time.