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hope good stuff this year.......... next year looks really far away, all i want is the iPad and iPhone5s.:cool:

been waiting since beginning of this year. :(
 
Apple recently ditched the MacBook Pro 17" which I was very disappointed by.
But I found this article which did shed a little light as to why....
zdnet article
The article is wrong. Yes retina displays played a role in the dead of the 17-inch MacBook Pro. But not because no one is manufacturing them, but because with Retina, 15-inch MBPs became good enough to replace 17-inch MBPs.
A 15-inch retina display with resolution settings to high provides the same screen real estate and quality as a normal 17-inch display. Just a little smaller.

Although with its much to small keyboard the 17-inch MBP always looked stupid designwise. I bet Jony Ive hated it as much as I did. And Apple is more than happy to reduce options and make it easier for people to decide which one to choose. The big one or the small one? No third line to update and maintain. So 17-inch MBP lovers, Apple is still making a laptop for you, its the the 15" rMBP and its a third lighter than your old brick.

Get used to it. You will love it. Apple believes they are hired to make decisions for their customers. And they decided you don't want a 17" display. What you want is a display that shows 1920 × 1200 pixels. And that's a scaled 15".
 
Rest your case all you want, you're arguing a point I didn't bring up.


As you seem a bit challenged I'll make it very simple.

Sure I'm willing to pay a premium for a product as are most. Apple's "premium" is well above and beyond what I would think and believe most would agree is typical for a "premium" product. WE, the consumer are stupid because if WE, the consumers didn't pay their extremely high "premium" then they would have to decide their "premium" is a bit to high and lower it to a more reasonable "premium". Got it now?

I'm gonna trim the rest of your drivel and just ask you straight up to elaborate. Please do tell what "premium" should Apple charge? Please give me examples with prices. How much should a Macbook Air cost? An iPad mini? Tell me.

Again, you don't seem to understand the concept that every business will charge the maximum people are willing to pay. The fact that their products sell well at their current prices should tell you they're *not* overpriced. They're expensive? Sure. Overpriced? Give me examples.

Until you do, here are some examples of mine: A Dell AIO with lower specs costs the same as the current line-up of iMacs which are better specced for each price point. Most Macbook Air clones (PC ultrabooks) cost about the same as the Air. Premium smartphones (HTC One, S4, etc.) cost the same as the iPhone. The way I see it, if looking of an equivalent (or close enough), the prices are pretty much within line of other products in the same class.

The only example I can think of would be the older iPhones (4 and 4S) who's prices stay pretty high despite their hardware being old by today's standards. Those, IMO, are the only things overpriced... especially the 4.

Look forward to hearing your examples or evidence as to what exactly is overpriced and what prices should Apple charge instead.
 
Apple's operating expenses are actually up compared to the year ago quarter ($3.8B vs $3.4B) even though revenues are essentially flat. Operating expenses (including r&d) have been increasing over the past few years. If Apple was expecting flat revenues (or decline) for the foreseeable future wouldn't we see a decline in operating expenses?
 
Really surprised by the weakness with iPad...

Then again I still see a lot of happy iPad-1 users, so they just need to update it more with feature that really make people come back and upgrade.

With the iPhone they are doing more progress in my opinion.

thats because most of us gen 3 owners skipped the small update of the gen 4
 
I'd like to see the iPhone numbers split by phone.

This is a good indicator of what Apple would do with 0 new products. They're still right in line, still making money, but not growing.

They can obviously not continue this to be the world's #1 company. You have to do better.

While I agree that new products are needed, even with no new products there is still considerable room for growth.

Apple appears to be executing, perfectly I might add, the classic Marty Marshall (the late Professor Martin V. Marshall of the Harvard Business School) model of growth. First, of course, there is PRODUCT expansion, as you point out. But even without that Apple is expanding with its existing products through GEOGRAPHIC expansion, opening new markets; CHANNEL OF DISTRIBUTION expansion, going through retail, mail order, carrier, internet, Apple Store and other channels along with it's geographic expansion. It is apparently expanding through a PRICING strategy to offer lower cost iPhones.

As long as there are geographic opportunities and within them, channels that are not yet filled, there will be room for growth even without whole new product categories. It would seem that there are such opportunities, from many developing markets to channels (China Mobile, DoCoMo) within maturing markets to allow for significant growth.

These are smart people executing a proven strategy. but, yes, I do want an iWatch, a new Mac Pro and some wonderful stuff I haven't even conceived of...

And the market will definitely want more product. Then the cycle starts again, roll it out GEOGRAPHICALLY, expand CHANNELS, etc.
 
You're comparing an internet company to a consumer gadgets company?

A better comparison would be

Q2 Apple profit 6.9 billion

Q2 Samsung Electronics profit 8.9 billion

You're comparing an net profits to operating profits?

A better comparison would be

Q2 Apple operating profit 9.2 billion

Q2 Samsung Electronics estimated operating profit 8.36 billion

http://english.sina.com/business/2013/0704/605587.html

The profits are down two quarters in a row. YoY quarter result are abysmal. Where exactly have you found an upward trend? The trend is down. Profits are falling just not as fast as stock market expected.

You can see an upward trend if you consider FY2012 (more specifically the iPhone 4S release cycle) as an outlier. It was a perfect storm of margin and demand. The year over year comparisons will be much more favorable to Apple after the September quarter.

Not sure if serious or just not knowing what a trend is

I know what a trend is. And it's not always measured from the record high.
 
WE, the consumer are stupid because if WE, the consumers didn't pay their extremely high "premium" then they would have to decide their "premium" is a bit to high and lower it to a more reasonable "premium". Got it now?
No I don't get it. Because I wanted an iPhone since MacWorld 2007 and I never bought one because of price. I made my dad buy an unlocked iPhone 4 and an iPad 3 for himself, because I thought with Retina displays they have become very valuable for their price points.

And they are great devices, but still too expensive for me with my own money. I'd be tempted to buy iPad mini and MacBook Air, if they had Retina displays at their current price points. But they've not and I'm not buying. Falling iPad sales suggest, I'm not the only one waiting.

Some day every device will have Retina and you wouldn't have to pay a premium to get it. That day is not today and might not be this fall. There will be new iPad minis but if they will have Retina remains to be seen.
 
Looking forward to the analysts saying they are disappointed in only $6.9 billion in profit.

This just isn't true. Profit year to year doesn't exist in a vacuum. In context their numbers exceeded most expectations, especially volume overseas. And this is mid-cycle. Very impressive stuff. I was nearly shocked. I'm prepared to buy more shares once the frenzy dies down. Things can only go up with so many refreshes approaching and at least the launch of two new product categories (wearables and in-car software).

If anything, this put AAPL back on a lot of doom and gloomers' radars on Wall Street.
 
Things can only go up with so many refreshes approaching and at least the launch of two new product categories (wearables and in-car software).
If Apple TV is a hobby, what would wearables and in-car software be. A pastime diversion?
Apple already has a wearable in the iPod shuffle. The whole iPod business collapsed 1/3 in the last quarter.
Do you really expect iWatch to compensate and over compensate this trend?
 
If Apple TV is a hobby, what would wearables and in-car software be. A pastime diversion?
Apple already has a wearable in the iPod shuffle. The whole iPod business collapsed 1/3 in the last quarter.
Do you really expect iWatch to compensate and over compensate this trend?

Well I think the goal is for the iwatch to have functionality that will compensate or overcompensate the trend.

Whether or not apple can do that remains to be seen, but obviously the iwatch is not going to just be a wearable mp3 player.
 
Go Apple!

I was there in the dark days...98-99...from that to this! Fantastic!

Can't wait for the iWatch...and the TV!

Cheers,
Cameron
 
Well I think the goal is for the iwatch to have functionality that will compensate or overcompensate the trend.
And what functionality could that be? Its not gonna be a phone, or browser, or reader, or navi. Its gonna be to small to run iPhone Apps. It could be a reminder, tell the time, be a stop watch. It could be an identification device for your passbook account. But all this can also be done with the smartphone you already have. The iWatch could measure your pulse, count your steps, monitor your health. Better than every smartphone. But this doesn't seem to be a market bigger than listening to music. The iWatch won't come and be a big hit. I bet Apple is not even working on it. The wrist is an area of extreme interest to Apple. That means they are researching the possibilities. They are not making something.
 
I think you don't know what it means if you think I don't know what it means. You may think you know but if you think I don't know then you don't know.

Clearly you don't, but others do.

Market Capitalization = # shares outstanding x share price.

Market Capitalization is most certainly affected by share price seeing as it comprises one of the two variables.

Supply and demand? Yeah sure, it effects the per share price which effects market capitalization. Supply and demand in and of itself is determined by a myriad of factors analyzed by people way above my pay grade. The two are always in equilibrium in a liquid market and the equilibrium sets the per share price. That is why any widely traded stock has values that change by the minute.

Walstreet sees a lot of future potential for Amazon and Netflix, thus a sky high P/E ratio. They do not see that in Apple thus the low ratio. Apple's market cap seems to be more representative of their earnings and assets in the present or very near future.

Also, Apple's profits depend on a large margin. Margins are very vulnerable and a regression to the mean, or at least close to it, is almost inevitable. Apple isn't a super luxury brand like Chanel or Louis Vuitton with perpetual margins and real exclusivity. Thus their financial health is dependent both on volume as well as a healthy margin.

One point where I'm not sure I agree with this analysis is with "supply and demand." If a company floats more shares, then the current shareholders' shares are diluted, meaning their EPS will be lower (and the reverse is true if a company buys back shares, as Apple is doing now). But whether this will result in a total reduction (or increase) of market value for the stock is really a matter of conjecture. All other things being equal, it probably doesn't change much if at all.

In any case, an investor is not interested in the market cap of a company, unless they are planning on buying the entire thing. That's the only time it matters in the least.

Also, even not-widely traded stocks change value by the minute (more like by the fraction of second). The electronic markets are constantly matching buy and sell orders. Nobody stands in the pit of the exchanges and shouts prices anymore.
 
And what functionality could that be? Its not gonna be a phone, or browser, or reader, or navi. Its gonna be to small to run iPhone Apps. It could be a reminder, tell the time, be a stop watch. It could be an identification device for your passbook account. But all this can also be done with the smartphone you already have. The iWatch could measure your pulse, count your steps, monitor your health. Better than every smartphone. But this doesn't seem to be a market bigger than listening to music. The iWatch won't come and be a big hit. I bet Apple is not even working on it. The wrist is an area of extreme interest to Apple. That means they are researching the possibilities. They are not making something.

I don't know what functionality they are thinking of. I'm simply saying that your statement that the ipod is already wearable is misplaced, because this is not going to be an ipod.

Whether or not it's successful I don't know, nor is it relevant to the conversation. I was just pointing out that this is not going to be a rehashed ipod.
 
Neither you nor I know what will happen in the future or what Apple has up its sleeve. You're taking a very pessimistic view and that's fine. It's happened many times in Apple's history. I chose not to do so. Maybe I'm just a fanboy with my head in the sand. I guess time will tell. :)

Perhaps, but as I mentioned above, an investor's main task is deciding whether they believe the company has or has not lost its edge. This is so much more important for an individual investor than trying to predict the future by reading the fine print in the quarterlies, or even the rumor tea leaves. Small investors have to understand that they are never going to beat the traders at their game. They have to be comfortable going with their gut instincts, or they should be honest with themselves, and not invest in individual stocks. If they are not, lots of other investment vehicles are available to them.
 
As many have mentioned, some of the press coverage of the earnings is laughable. I got a feed yesterday on my phone to the effect of " Apple Losing its Shines Struggles with Second Quarter of Losses "

Losses? Do people even understand what a loss is and how far Apple is from a loss?

They sold how many iPads? :rolleyes:

The above mentioned link was from Gawker or someone like that, so yeah they are pretty laughable but even the links from CNN were negative. Then this morning i see another link: Apple stock up 5% on news of bearing analyst expectations and brisk iphone sales.

Journalism is becoming about as honorable of a profession as politics.
 
Why are the Mac net sales so low? Apple recently ditched the MacBook Pro 17" which I was very disappointed by. But I found this article which did shed a little light as to why....

zdnet article

On the UK Apple Store, the last remaining 17" MBPs were sold as "refurbished" at a much reduced price. They were available for many, many months. I'd say demand can't have been very high. There are certain products that everybody _wants_ but nobody actually buys, and I think the 17" was in that category.

Mac sales are low because all the world is buying tablets, so all computer sales are down - including Mac sales. Now if you are Dell or HP, then computer sales going down because of tablets sales is horrible. If you are Apple, then 400,000 Mac sales and 13.6 million PC sales gone because you sold 14 million iPads is just excellent.

----------

From the reports I've read, Mac market share is only growing in a few countries such as the US and the UK. Welcome but hardly a sign of a major shift. As long as Apple makes the lions share of the profits I doubt they're all that bothered.

Actually, the Mac market share is growing everywhere. It isn't equally high everywhere, but it is growing everywhere.
 
Without iPhone 6 released now (this year), with bigger screen, I can see Apple shares falling to sub $250 this year :(
Now, will that piss off shareholders off or what...
iPhone 5S will NOT cut it anymore I'm afraid...
Those days are over...
P.S; Just watch these shares coming down.
I predict Apple shares to be sub $250 by the end of this year alone...
Mark my words ;)

So you think AAPL is only worth 100b and a PE of 5? that is what you get when you take away the 150b they have in cash... massive share buyback, biggest ever, almost 3% yield, don't quit your day job kid!
 
iPads are a lot more expensive. You can upgrade your iPhone in 2 years for $199, but upgrading your iPad costs much more.

You can't upgrade your iPhone for $199. You can enter a contract where you get an iPhone for $199 in cash and then you pay tons of money for the next 24 months, but if you think you can upgrade an iPhone for $199 then you are kidding yourself.
 
You can't upgrade your iPhone for $199. You can enter a contract where you get an iPhone for $199 in cash and then you pay tons of money for the next 24 months, but if you think you can upgrade an iPhone for $199 then you are kidding yourself.

In the US, his statement is pretty accurate. The cost of service is about the same (particularly with the two major carriers), whether you purchase your device with them or not. Being locked into a contract for two years - that you planned on having anyway - is only tactically disadvantageous if you plan on changing carriers every few months (and I'd suggest, the T&E with that has costs too).
 
No I don't get it. Because I wanted an iPhone since MacWorld 2007 and I never bought one because of price. I made my dad buy an unlocked iPhone 4 and an iPad 3 for himself, because I thought with Retina displays they have become very valuable for their price points.

And they are great devices, but still too expensive for me with my own money. I'd be tempted to buy iPad mini and MacBook Air, if they had Retina displays at their current price points. But they've not and I'm not buying. Falling iPad sales suggest, I'm not the only one waiting.

Some day every device will have Retina and you wouldn't have to pay a premium to get it. That day is not today and might not be this fall. There will be new iPad minis but if they will have Retina remains to be seen.

I bought an iPhone in 07 and it was the best thing ever and worth every one of the $600 I spent on it. Too expensive is a relative term. I don't feel nearly as price gouged on my electronics as I do on my carrier and internet plans the that I spend well over $100 for each.

----------

In the US, his statement is pretty accurate. The cost of service is about the same (particularly with the two major carriers), whether you purchase your device with them or not. Being locked into a contract for two years - that you planned on having anyway - is only tactically disadvantageous if you plan on changing carriers every few months (and I'd suggest, the T&E with that has costs too).

Yep, using an un-subsidized phone on AT&T and Verizon it costs just as much as if you used a subsidized phone. Hence, it makes no sense not to take advantage of a subsidized phone. And I know this because I tried to add my dad to my data plan with an old iphone and the plan would cost just as much as adding a new iphone :(
 
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