Apple Set to Earn $1 Trillion in Revenue From iOS Ecosystem By Middle of 2017

[Constable Odo]

According to Cook, the best is always coming. It's hard to believe him though, because it never actually does.*

*this is a quasi-bash on Cook's Apple.

Cook has said the best is coming but he never actually says when. For all we know it is still coming. Look, Cook is a CEO and he has to lie to Apple users and investors. That's what CEOs do. What do you expect him to say? "Nothing's coming so don't look for anything." I'm just as upset as anyone that Steve Jobs died. Of all the tech companies around, I had to choose to back and invest in the the company where the CEO unfortunately died at a relatively young age. It was good luck when Steve was alive and now it's bad luck that Steve is gone. I guess everything balances out in the end. Even if Tim Cook isn't a stinker (I can't really decide on that) there probably isn't anyone around who could take Steve Jobs place in the same capacity.

Maybe I should consider myself lucky Apple hasn't fallen totally in the gutter since Steve died. Maybe even if he was alive the same situation would exist. Who knows for sure. I do know Apple is sure being spat upon by anyone who cares to do so and Tim Cook isn't lifting a finger to protect loyal fans and shareholders. He doesn't seem to have any pride in Apple's past heritage.
[doublepost=1484249390][/doublepost]

It seems that 3/4 of the people on this forum think that Apple is doomed and Tim Cook should be fired, and that the key to Apple's turnaround is to turn the iPad into a Surface Pro and to make Macs more like Hackintoshes.

No amount of evidence, such as this article, will convince them that Apple is doing fine and making good choices that are popular with customers. They want their inch-thick iPad with mouse support and a file system, they want their Mac with a GTX 1080. And unless Apple delivers these things to them ASAP, Apple is doomed and Tim Cook is the worst.

If someone could convince Wall Street that Apple is a healthy company I could go along with your assessment Apple is doing just fine. It's just that from the evidence I see in terms of share price value Wall Street believes Apple is a steaming pile of crap, soon to be out of business. Look at all the other tech companies making huge gains in value while Apple goes nowhere. 2016 was a great year for tech companies except for Apple. I'm not making this up so what am I missing. Whatever good Apple is doing it's not being reflected in the share price. Buybacks and dividends aren't doing anything to attract investors. Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft are now said to be the powerhouse companies while Apple remains doomed, as usual. It's very frustrating and makes little sense to me.

 

[ntlman]

+1 from someone who used to work in the educational market.

This is all great speculating about Apple's services growth, but there's one tidbit that I think can put a big crimp on this expected services growth.

Google has stolen the educational market from Apple in the US. In 2016, 51% of all US K-12 kids had a school issued Chromebook. Meanwhile, Apple's share went from 33% to 25%. If you think Apple can recapture the educational market at the school purchasing level, do a Google search for "LAUSD ipad scandal" and you will quickly disabuse yourself of that fantasy. In fact, Apple's handling of the whole affair would NEVER have happened under Jobs. Research Jobs' stance on the role of computers in the classroom and how hard he worked to get Apple IIEs to schools affordably, and compare it to the disgusting kickback affair that happened with the LAUSD/iPad scandal.

What happens when all of these kids, who are all working on Chromebooks every day, start adding apps from Google Play to their ChromeBooks? Why would they even bother with Apple services? A Samsung ChromeBook Plus will offer external file mgmt, a keyboard, touch screen, stylus pen, and full access to both the Chrome and Google Play stores. And still be cheaper than the starting iPad Pro. Asus, Acer, Dell and HP are also getting on this. Meanwhile, Apple is actually charging schools EXTRA if they want to use iPads in the classroom.

But a trillion dollars, sure!

Loved your humor and thinking in this post but I have to make one correction. From the front lines (consumers with educational background in business) it seems that Apple has gone "stale", possibly when they released the first apple watch that was far from impressive (still own S0 and S2 so not bashing). I don't feel like looking up the video but look back at Tim Cook saying "we have amazing products in line to release this year", well we got the S2 which got minor tweaks (love it though), another iPhone with practically the same features plus a non-physical home button, and a MacBook that really isn't that impressive for how long the wait was. We didn't get anything from any of the other product lines, we didn't get anything "new", and nothing earth shattering as Cook seemed to have hyped it up, and we actually lost product lines like the monitors. This isn't a bash on Cook or an Apple was better with Jobs rant, just saying that the hype didn't seem to deliver last year like it was supposed to.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Even thinner, consider their source of revenue comes from peddling a product nobody wants (ads) and that it could (in theory at least) be defeated with a simple ad blocker.

I'm working on technology to stop you from being able to block ads. Ads pay for the site.

 

[Defthand]

Companies follow the money. This trend in mobile phone sales and its accouterments explains why Apple has evolved from a PC maker to a phone company.
[doublepost=1484252325][/doublepost]

I'm working on technology to stop you from being able to block ads. Ads pay for the site.

Alternatively, you could pursue a win-win solution by working on technology that loads webpages faster and conserves bandwidth/data. Users don’t mind ads until those ads compromise speed, interrupt the experience and consume their data allowance.

 

[Count Blah]

Xcode is very effecient and can run pretty well on even older Mac. My 2007 iMac can still run as Xcode server to create builds and stuff. Even any MacBook Air can run Xcode just fine.

You are correct. And developers are THE group most interested in using old/outdated tech.

Makes perfect sense.

 

[oftheheavens]

+1 from someone who used to work in the educational market.

This is all great speculating about Apple's services growth, but there's one tidbit that I think can put a big crimp on this expected services growth.

Google has stolen the educational market from Apple in the US. In 2016, 51% of all US K-12 kids had a school issued Chromebook. Meanwhile, Apple's share went from 33% to 25%. If you think Apple can recapture the educational market at the school purchasing level, do a Google search for "LAUSD ipad scandal" and you will quickly disabuse yourself of that fantasy. In fact, Apple's handling of the whole affair would NEVER have happened under Jobs. Research Jobs' stance on the role of computers in the classroom and how hard he worked to get Apple IIEs to schools affordably, and compare it to the disgusting kickback affair that happened with the LAUSD/iPad scandal.

What happens when all of these kids, who are all working on Chromebooks every day, start adding apps from Google Play to their ChromeBooks? Why would they even bother with Apple services? A Samsung ChromeBook Plus will offer external file mgmt, a keyboard, touch screen, stylus pen, and full access to both the Chrome and Google Play stores. And still be cheaper than the starting iPad Pro. Asus, Acer, Dell and HP are also getting on this. Meanwhile, Apple is actually charging schools EXTRA if they want to use iPads in the classroom.

But a trillion dollars, sure!

you are so right dude. I remember the big push to get apples into the school, back when we were still learning to type on typewriters because we only has a few computers. That push is what got me into apple some 22 years ago. I am going to look up the scandal you are talking about but I can tell you for a fact (not what squadron or CO or anything) that when the military approved certain types of pilots to have iPads for maps EVERY SINGLE PILOT IN THE MARINES "HAD TO HAVE ONE". The first purchase I made for them that I felt was legit was in Japan when they would literally have to carry several foreign and translated maps folded up in their pockets or flight books. I believe the first purchase was for roughly 110 iPad 2's(?). After that I had everyone and their brother saying they needed one and of course no pilot wanted to turn them in upon leaving the command so there goes millions of dollars. We just swept it into the "catch all" account so that we could get the same amount of money the following year lol...

 

[roksraka]

It seems that 3/4 of the people on this forum think that Apple is doomed and Tim Cook should be fired, and that the key to Apple's turnaround is to turn the iPad into a Surface Pro and to make Macs more like Hackintoshes.

No amount of evidence, such as this article, will convince them that Apple is doing fine and making good choices that are popular with customers. They want their inch-thick iPad with mouse support and a file system, they want their Mac with a GTX 1080. And unless Apple delivers these things to them ASAP, Apple is doomed and Tim Cook is the worst.

Yes, Apple is doing fine financially and in the short-term. In the long-term, decisions, which could prove very financially beneficial now, may backfire ten years down the line. Just look at what happened to Microsoft 10 years ago - they were doing great financially, but they completely missed what was happening on the mobile market, and just look how well the Lumia phones are selling these days... If Apple discontinues Pro-grade Macs, they WILL lose their market share with designers and software engineers. When these people switch to a PC, they will start developing for PCs, and eventually there'll be no-one left to keep the wheels turning for Apple (I'm exaggerating a bit, of course). iOS devices are quite mediocre without the ecosystem in which they belong, and this ecosystem has a gaping hole without Macs.

 

[Carlanga]

Don't forget your dongles and your watchbands!!

 

[Santabean2000]

Which makes zero business sense, because we NEED the Mac and Xcode to create those spiffy apps in the first place.

Until that's not true, you've just got think Apple is dropping the ball.

Nothing worse than someone who comes into money and then forgets where they came from.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Can't wait to tell my friends!

 

[AbSoluTc]

Uh?

The iPhone is far from being the only profitable business of the firm. At the contrary, every sector Apple competes in is profitable, from Services, which are enormously up YOY, to the Apple Watch (it's the size of Rolex), to Beats hardware to the iPad to obviously the Mac. Not to mention the billion-dollar business just launched with the AirPods.

Contrast this to Google, Facebook that get >95% revenues from the advertising trick. Everything else they do is losing them vast amounts of money, just check out Alphabet X' impressive list of high profile failures.

The iPhone is huge and unmatched, so all the other revenue streams look small in comparison, but having a huge and unmatched business is not a liability, it's a plus.

 

[dilbert99]

I've been shot down ssoooooo many times on this forum whenever I argued just how important and lucrative the app stores earnings are to Apple...

This report is the main reason the 'freemium' business model and Apples 30% cut is promoted and enforced so much.

Note the bulk of that 1 trillion comes from device sales

Dediu claims revenue from iOS device sales will total about $980 billion

[doublepost=1484267635][/doublepost]

Eventually Apple will descend into mediocrity as they attempt to preserve their almighty margins. iPhones already lag in hardware technology, and the gap will only widen.

Its a shame that there are phone makers out there gouging customers for over $1000 for a phone.
No wonder they made $980 billion from device sales

 

[MacBH928]

It seems that 3/4 of the people on this forum think that Apple is doomed and Tim Cook should be fired, and that the key to Apple's turnaround is to turn the iPad into a Surface Pro and to make Macs more like Hackintoshes.

No amount of evidence, such as this article, will convince them that Apple is doing fine and making good choices that are popular with customers. They want their inch-thick iPad with mouse support and a file system, they want their Mac with a GTX 1080. And unless Apple delivers these things to them ASAP, Apple is doomed and Tim Cook is the worst.

When people say Apple is doomed, they don't mean they will shutdown next month. That $1T is the reap of past Apple decisions since the Steve Jobs days. iTunes store was launched like back in 2002., iphone 2007.

When people say Apple is doomed, they mean if they continue current strategy they will lose their position in the future. Google was launched back in 1998, Yahoo still exists, its just not the same Yahoo.

Others companies that were successful and thought they will never lose: Blackberry, Sega, AOL, Kodak, Blockbuster, Circuit City..etc

 

[I7guy]

When people say Apple is doomed, they don't mean they will shutdown next month. That $1T is the reap of past Apple decisions since the Steve Jobs days. iTunes store was launched like back in 2002., iphone 2007.

When people say Apple is doomed, they mean if they continue current strategy they will lose their position in the future. Google was launched back in 1998, Yahoo still exists, its just not the same Yahoo.

Others companies that were successful and thought they will never lose: Blackberry, Sega, AOL, Kodak, Blockbuster, Circuit City..etc

Goldman, the powerhouse of wall street isn't the same firm either. In the realm of anything can happen, anything can happen and not only to apple.
[doublepost=1484274372][/doublepost]

Note the bulk of that 1 trillion comes from device sales

[doublepost=1484267635][/doublepost]

Its a shame that there are phone makers out there gouging customers for over $1000 for a phone.
No wonder they made $980 billion from device sales

Well one of apples competitors also charges a hefty fee for acquisition and I'm sure your obtuse reference also included that manufacturer.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Companies follow the money. This trend in mobile phone sales and its accouterments explains why Apple has evolved from a PC maker to a phone company.
[doublepost=1484252325][/doublepost]

Alternatively, you could pursue a win-win solution by working on technology that loads webpages faster and conserves bandwidth/data. Users don’t mind ads until those ads compromise speed, interrupt the experience and consume their data allowance.

I do that too.

 

[dilbert99]

Goldman, the powerhouse of wall street isn't the same firm either. In the realm of anything can happen, anything can happen and not only to apple.
[doublepost=1484274372][/doublepost]
Well one of apples competitors also charges a hefty fee for acquisition and I'm sure your obtuse reference also included that manufacturer.

Exactly, thats why I made no reference to Apple relating to the $1000, the equivalent pixel phone is almost as expensive as the Apple iPhone.

I'd have tried out Android if the Pixel wasn't as expensive.

 

[truthertech]

$1 trillion.

Yet they're (reportedly) moving Mac Pro production out of the U.S. to create "more ambitious products". Hmm....

Not "reportedly," just an unsubstantiated rumor from unidentified sources. That's how we end up with so much fake news.
[doublepost=1484296511][/doublepost]When your only money making item is a phone and you have no other diversity, you can only ride that wave for so long before it vanishes. Apple is skating on thin ice and they need to diversify and bolster their current offerings and stop relying so heavily on ONE device to keep them going.

Uh?

The iPhone is far from being the only profitable business of the firm. At the contrary, every sector Apple competes in is profitable, from Services, which are enormously up YOY, to the Apple Watch (it's the size of Rolex), to Beats hardware to the iPad to obviously the Mac. Not to mention the billion-dollar business just launched with the AirPods.

Contrast this to Google, Facebook that get >95% revenues from the advertising trick. Everything else they do is losing them vast amounts of money, just check out Alphabet X' impressive list of high profile failures.

The iPhone is huge and unmatched, so all the other revenue streams look small in comparison, but having a huge and unmatched business is not a liability, it's a plus.

Amen. Apple is smoking hot in so many areas but there are so many haters and trolls that ordinary folks sometimes assume the "Apple is doomed" meme must be true. You pointed out Facebook and to add to that, the revenue from Apple's "services" is growing so fast that it now exceeds ALL of Facebook's revenue and this year will grow to the equivalent of a Fortune 100 company. Apple Pay is adding a million users a week and now has 75% of the entire US market. Wireless headphones now constitutes 75% of all headphone revenue, and Apple is now the largest seller of wireless headsets in the world. Apple has most of profits for the entire tablet industry, and so on.

 

[apolloa]

Note the bulk of that 1 trillion comes from device sales

[doublepost=1484267635][/doublepost]

Its a shame that there are phone makers out there gouging customers for over $1000 for a phone.
No wonder they made $980 billion from device sales

Oh yeah, sorry I went by the usual ridiculous incorrect lying Mac a Rumors story headline...

 

[dilbert99]

Oh yeah, sorry I went by the usual ridiculous incorrect lying Mac a Rumors story headline...

usual click bait style headlines...

 

[RedOrchestra]

Apple Pay is adding a million users a week and now has 75% of the entire US market.

What an incredibly worthless statistic ... JUST more rhetoric from Apple's Chief Hoodwinker Cook. The banks are just starting to issue chip and pin cards (not contactless pay cards) so AP is the only game in the US ... the merchant uptake of contactless POS terminals is slower than molasses at -50 degrees.

That knockout Apple Pay is hardly world wide with financial institutions in ONLY 11 countries signed on after 2 years since Apple offered the service.

Folks, don't get fooled by bull in the china shop data from the ecosystem.

 

[truthertech]

What an incredibly worthless statistic ... JUST more rhetoric from Apple's Chief Hoodwinker Cook. The banks are just starting to issue chip and pin cards (not contactless pay cards) so AP is the only game in the US ... the merchant uptake of contactless POS terminals is slower than molasses at -50 degrees.

That knockout Apple Pay is hardly world wide with financial institutions in ONLY 11 countries signed on after 2 years since Apple offered the service.

Folks, don't get fooled by bull in the china shop data from the ecosystem.

I'll try and walk you through this. Chip and Pin cards are not the same as Apple Pay. In fact, it is the opposite. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and the others are in the category of "contactless" payments since you don't use a card at all. Apple Pay wasn't the first to market, but keeping with that proud Apple tradition of waiting until they had something great, they have quickly zoomed past Google and Samsung and all the other contactless payment competitors so that they now have taken over the US market with a 75% share. Apple Pay is adding a million users a week around the world and is growing exponentially, use is up 500% and the market is expected to be worth $180 billion dollars in 2017.

Not to pour salt into your considerable wounds, but I also have to debunk your claim that merchant uptake is slow. In reality, a difficult concept for some, merchants who take Apple Pay went from 4% the first year to 35%, (over 4 million locations) in 2016 and is expected to hit 66% in 2017.


Apple Pay. It's another great add to the terrific Apple ecosystem, not so much for your ego.

 

[RedOrchestra]

Apple Pay. It's another great add to the terrific Apple ecosystem,

Just more bull in the china shop data "said CEO Tim Cook" , "Apple CEO Tim Cook says" - try to read something other than from Apple's chief hoodwinker Cook ...

Apple Pay’s frequency of usage is putrid

http://macdailynews.com/2016/08/03/apple-pays-frequency-of-usage-is-putrid/

Frequency of Usage: The percent of people who use the service more than once has fallen from its peak a year ago, and is now sharply lower than what had been seen at launch. After you take into account both who has adopted the service, and how often people who have adopted it use it, the numbers have barely moved over 20 months: roughly speaking, only one person in 20 who have the service use it when they can, 19 out of 20 people who have the service don’t even bother.

 

[truthertech]

Just more bull in the china shop data "said CEO Tim Cook" , "Apple CEO Tim Cook says" - try to read something other than from Apple's chief hoodwinker Cook ...

Apple Pay’s frequency of usage is putrid

http://macdailynews.com/2016/08/03/apple-pays-frequency-of-usage-is-putrid/

Frequency of Usage: The percent of people who use the service more than once has fallen from its peak a year ago, and is now sharply lower than what had been seen at launch. After you take into account both who has adopted the service, and how often people who have adopted it use it, the numbers have barely moved over 20 months: roughly speaking, only one person in 20 who have the service use it when they can, 19 out of 20 people who have the service don’t even bother.

Macdailynews LOL. Phony news from "analysts" who were found to be making stats up and slapped down by Apple's actual figures. No, Red, no matter how much you wish it away, the fact remains that Apple is killing it with Apple Pay and garnering 75% of the market is another feather in Tim Cook's cap and lots more money in the bank. Now, hurry along, I think those kids are back on your lawn.

 

[RedOrchestra]

"While the number of U.S. retailers who accept Apple Pay has grown seven-fold between the launch of the service and the end of last year, usage appears to be lagging behind that curve. A survey by Phoenix Marketing found that even in the cases of retailers with the highest levels of Apple Pay usage, only a minority of customers use the payment method there more than once a month.

The survey also noted that 47% of Apple Pay users had experienced a failed transaction at least once, and that a handful of states account for half of all payments made using the service."

https://9to5mac.com/2016/01/12/apple-pay-usage-retail-growth/

--------------------------------

"Apple Pay usage totaled $10.9 billion last year, the vast majority of that in the United States. That is less than the annual volume of transactions in Kenya, a mobile payments pioneer, according to research firm Timetric."

http://fortune.com/2016/06/01/apple-pay-struggles-outside-u-s/

 

[truthertech]

"While the number of U.S. retailers who accept Apple Pay has grown seven-fold between the launch of the service and the end of last year, usage appears to be lagging behind that curve. A survey by Phoenix Marketing found that even in the cases of retailers with the highest levels of Apple Pay usage, only a minority of customers use the payment method there more than once a month.

The survey also noted that 47% of Apple Pay users had experienced a failed transaction at least once, and that a handful of states account for half of all payments made using the service."

https://9to5mac.com/2016/01/12/apple-pay-usage-retail-growth/

--------------------------------

"Apple Pay usage totaled $10.9 billion last year, the vast majority of that in the United States. That is less than the annual volume of transactions in Kenya, a mobile payments pioneer, according to research firm Timetric."

http://fortune.com/2016/06/01/apple-pay-struggles-outside-u-s/

Wow, a survey some company did a year ago. All of that has already been refuted Red. While you are desperately Googling to save your life, those kids just ran through your flower bed.