iPhone Generated Record-Breaking Share of Profits Last Quarter Despite Continued Sales Decline

[Amazing Iceman]

Hooray...! Now let's move on to the next topic: Apple, focus more on quality and user experience than on counting your profits.

Don't just get rid of products because these are not giving you 400% profit.

Also, learn from the Real Estate Market 9 years ago, and how it's bubble exploded.

 

[Kiwikat88]

As long as there are idiots out there paying premiun for yesterday's technology. Apple will keep generating record breaking profits...

Errrr... considering most of their profit comes from iPhone and the iOS ecosystem, I hardly see it as paying a premium for yesterday's tech. The iPhone routinely picks apart the competition in speed and has among the best cameras. The screen while not OLED (which is a positive for me) is very bright and colorful. iOS continues to provide a smoother experience than Android, even compared to the Pixel. They might not be earth-shattering, but the iPhones are still very nice devices.

I think the last round of Macbook Pros were a bit of a misstep with really awkward timing and inconsistent connectivity, but they have mostly up-to-date (if not too bleeding edge in some cases) technology as well.

I believe the smartphone is well past the point of being able to create the "wow factor" it used to. People are expecting way too much from each release. It is a very mature product at this point and will likely only see iterative improvements.

 

[symphara]

No I'm not. I'm freely paying what to me and many tens of millions of others (hundreds of millions over the years) represents outstanding value with respect to performance, features, support, and price.

You may not agree, or find the phone beyond your means, but try not to project your views onto a huge number of people who have been purchasing iPhones for many years and keep coming back.

Perhaps you're just paying because you got tricked by very clever product design focusing on prettiness and desirability, very clever marketing and product positioning focused on social signalling, and now you're locked into an expensive eco-system which is designed to make it very hard to get out of, and you're simply justifying your decision to yourself that you're paying so much for performance, features and support that everyone else pretty much also has.

The iPhone in itself isn't special. You can buy phones for half the money that do just about everything, and more. Its AppStore isn't special, the Android variety has pretty much the very same apps with the very same looks and functionality.

The price is special indeed. And to justify that you need to conjure a spell of "performance, features and support" that, viewed from outside, looks like vaporware.

 

[bjet767]

It's not overpriced if people will lay down their funds for it.

Why is it some people think others owe them something for free or near that. I know it's the same folks who complain about having to pay the music performers for their efforts. Streaming music should be free!!!!!!!
Yea that's it!

 

[citysnaps]

Perhaps you're just paying because you got tricked by very clever product design focusing on prettiness and desirability, very clever marketing and product positioning focused on social signalling, and now you're locked into an expensive eco-system which is designed to make it very hard to get out of, and you're simply justifying your decision to yourself that you're paying so much for performance, features and support that everyone else pretty much also has.

The iPhone in itself isn't special. You can buy phones for half the money that do just about everything, and more. Its AppStore isn't special, the Android variety has pretty much the very same apps with the very same looks and functionality.

The price is special indeed. And to justify that you need to conjure a spell of "performance, features and support" that, viewed from outside, looks like vaporware.

Tricked? Seriously? Is that your argument? Lame. Apparently you believe you're the only smart person in the room.

I (a systems and hardware engineer) am not, and apparently along with a few hundred million others, interested in a phone for half the money that does just about everything. I am willing to pay for performance, features, and quality. If you're not, that's cool. Just don't project your personal views on millions of others.

But whatevs... We're all tricked. That's rich.

 

[gertruded]

Wang, Polaroid, Kodak, Xerox, Sears, HP, Nokia, Blackberry, and now Apple. We all have our own very long list. All basically caused by the same management mistakes.

If I, a long time fangirl, would feel like a chump for paying the price that Apple is asking for the new Macbook "Pro"; then thousands would feel the same. The new iphone with limited improvements is the same.

 

[Cineplex]

No I'm not. I'm freely paying what to me and many tens of millions of others (hundreds of millions over the years) represents outstanding value with respect to performance, features, support, and price.

You may not agree, or find the phone beyond your means, but try not to project your views onto a huge number of people who have been purchasing iPhones for many years and keep coming back.

LOL. Okay. What really cracks me up is your "outstanding value" claim. If you actually believe that I feel really bad for you and anyone else that thinks the iPhone is "outstanding value". You could say a million other positive things...but value...no. A Moto E is a value, a $969 iPhone is not "outstanding value". Then you call me poor. LOL! Classic! Talk about projecting. The next generation of Apple customers have arrived!!! I was wondering who was giving Apple all their money blindly, and now I know.

 

[citysnaps]

LOL. Okay. What really cracks me up is your "outstanding value" claim. If you actually believe that I feel really bad for you and anyone else that thinks the iPhone is "outstanding value". You could say a million other positive things...but value...no. A Moto E is a value, a $969 iPhone is not "outstanding value". Then you call me poor. LOL! Classic! Talk about projecting. The next generation of Apple customers have arrived!!! I was wondering who was giving Apple all their money blindly, and now I know.

Got it. You're the only smart person in the room that can speak authoritatively for others with respect to what value represents.

 

[symphara]

Tricked? Seriously? Is that your argument? Lame. Apparently you believe you're the only smart person in the room.

Not at all. People get tricked all the time. From how to vote to what to buy. Did you think supermarket product placement is random? It's highly scientific. So is the amount of salt, distribution and the size of the crystals on potato crisps. Designed to create certain sensations in your brain.

Apple is very good at it. The iPhone is staggeringly bad value for money, but you swallowed it, hook, line and sinker.

 

[citysnaps]

Not at all. People get tricked all the time. From how to vote to what to buy. Did you think supermarket product placement is random? It's highly scientific.

Apple is very good at it. The iPhone is staggeringly bad value for money, but you swallowed it, hook, line and sinker.

Got it. You're still playing the role of being the only enlightened smart person in the room.

After careful consideration I purchased a phone that meets my needs. Along with tens of millions of others.

Why do you worry so much about what represents good value for me (and others), rather than just being concerned about your own choices?

Seems you have appointed yourself the smartphone value arbiter. People who have the audacity to disagree with you, have, as you put it, "swallowed it, hook, line and sinker."

 

[NT1440]

N
Apple is very good at it. The iPhone is staggeringly bad value for money, but you swallowed it, hook, line and sinker.

That's funny (you're completely correct on the food and marketing of it btw), my iPhone works perfectly with my watch, has the ability to pick up seamlessly with my other devices where I left off, has a massively useful peek feature for websites that I use dozens of times a day, as well as many other features that just don't exist outside iOS/MacOS that I've tailored my workflow around.

Was I somehow mislead that this is the only phone capable of suiting my needs and wants? I'm pretty sure I bought exactly the device I wanted and needed, which is what I valued at the time of purchase. So where can the claim that it's a bad value be made in my case?

 

[Cineplex]

Got it. You're still playing the role of being the only enlightened smart person in the room.

After careful consideration I purchased a phone that meets my needs. Along with tens of millions of others.

Why do you worry so much about what represents good value for me (and others), rather than just being concerned about your own choices?

Seems you have appointed yourself the smartphone value arbiter. People who have the audacity to disagree with you, have, as you put it, "swallowed it, hook, line and sinker."

Why do you worry so much about what represents good value for me (and others), rather than just being concerned about your own choices?

 

[symphara]

Got it. You're still playing the role of being the only enlightened smart person in the room.

Not at all. This has nothing to do with smarts or enlightenment. Apple's spell simply didn't work on me - I was lucky.

After careful consideration I purchased a phone that meets my needs.

Come on, pull the other one. What careful consideration? Normal or plus?

I haven't seen one iPhone user buying an iPhone because of careful consideration of needs or any value-for-money analysis. That would get you so fast and so far from the iPhone that your head would be spinning.

Along with tens of millions of others.

Yeah you keep bringing this up. Millions of others. Well millions just voted for Trump. And millions didn't. More millions than the ones who bought an iPhone never bought an iPhone. Millions doing X doesn't mean jack about X, in the sense of quality, performance or whatever. It just means that X was made desirable enough, and that's about it. How it got there, that's another story. You think it's all to do with inherent quality and performance, I disagree.

 

[NT1440]

Come on, pull the other one. What careful consideration? Normal or plus?

I haven't seen one iPhone user buying an iPhone because of careful consideration of needs or any value-for-money consideration. That would get you so fast and so far from the iPhone that your head would be spinning.

Care to expand on what you find to be a comparable phone that has more value? And why it is a better value?

 

[citysnaps]

Not at all. This has nothing to do with smarts or enlightenment. Apple's spell simply didn't work on me - I was lucky.


Come on, pull the other one. What careful consideration? Normal or plus?

I haven't seen one iPhone user buying an iPhone because of careful consideration of needs or any value-for-money analysis. That would get you so fast and so far from the iPhone that your head would be spinning.


Yeah you keep bringing this up. Millions of others. Well millions just voted for Trump. And millions didn't. More millions than the ones who bought an iPhone never bought an iPhone. Millions doing X doesn't mean jack about X, in the sense of quality, performance or whatever. It just means that X was made desirable enough, and that's about it. How it got there, that's another story. You think it's all to do with inherent quality and performance, I disagree.

Got it. You were the lucky chosen one who can sus out what good value represents for other people and their circumstances.
[doublepost=1479916059][/doublepost]

Why do you worry so much about what represents good value for me (and others), rather than just being concerned about your own choices?

Mirroring. Very immature.

 

[domino67]

The article says the smartphone industry made $9 billion in profit... and Apple made $8.5 billion of that.

I get that.

But Apple Inc. as a whole company made 9 billion profit. there is no way that 8.5 billion of that profit was derived solely from phones. that would mean that the rest of the companies products only generated 500 million. that's why I call BS.

 

[thespacekid]

My experience is the iPhone 7 is doing well. I upgraded 2 from iPhone 5 and 5S to a 7. Holding off on a 6Plus until the next year.

 

[2IS]

Who says a singular data point will follow an assumed linear trail... forever? This is why anybody making predictions is full of nothing but stupidity. TOP scientists said, in the 70's, we'd run out of oil by the 90's... yet now we have more oil than ever before at our disposal. Predictions are bologna, especially those based on nothing yet assumed any sort of trend going forward.

You asked says who, and I answered. I asked you for an example of a company who was able to achieve what you seemed to be implying was possible, by way of asking "says who" when someone said it wouldn't last. You typed out a very long reply for having completely avoided the question. It was like asking Hillary about the Clinton Foundation.

 

[symphara]

Care to expand on what you find to be a comparable phone that has more value? And why it is a better value?

Basically, anything else apart from some wacky Vertu/Porsche Design stuff? If you were to think about what you need from your smartphone, I find it very hard to believe that the iPhone is the answer. The iPhone is a want, not a need.

Why do you worry so much about what represents good value for me (and others), rather than just being concerned about your own choices?

I don't worry about it at all. I'm mostly amused at how people throw their money at such things as the iPhone, and then convince themselves they made a good choice, mostly because the alternative is to accept that they were duped to begin with.

When I say I don't worry about it, I mean it. I wish Apple would continue to dupe people, because this ensures its competitors keep bringing better devices at lower prices, so there's more value for money for people like me.

 

[NT1440]

Basically, anything else apart from some wacky Vertu/Porsche Design stuff? If you were to think about what you need from your smartphone, I find it very hard to believe that the iPhone is the answer. The iPhone is a want, not a need.]

So again, the fact that I've outlined how I've built my workflow around my choice of devices means nothing to you. I should just buy a $50 Indian made smartphone instead?

 

[Kiwikat88]

I don't worry about it at all. I'm mostly amused at how people throw their money at such things as the iPhone, and then convince themselves they made a good choice, mostly because the alternative is to accept that they were duped to begin with.

When I say I don't worry about it, I mean it. I wish Apple would continue to dupe people, because this ensures its competitors keep bringing better devices at lower prices, so there's more value for money for people like me.

It is very hard to take anything you say seriously when you say you'll spend the same amount for a Pixel.

 

[symphara]

It is very hard to take anything you say seriously when you say you'll spend the same amount for a Pixel.

I wouldn't, my wife wants it

But by the way, she specifically wants it for the unlimited storage of 4k videos. So for that, she might get some value out of Google

 

[Cineplex]

Got it. You were the lucky chosen one who can sus out what good value represents for other people and their circumstances.
[doublepost=1479916059][/doublepost]

Mirroring. Very immature.

Your so mad! lol. Mad at the world for some reason. Can't you see that you are just doing the same thing you are accusing others of doing? That was my point. You are in a rage because someone thinks the iPhone is not the best thing in the world. It's not worth this much anger. Maybe its something else, I don't know.

Either way, Have a good Thanksgiving.
[doublepost=1479919211][/doublepost]

Basically, anything else apart from some wacky Vertu/Porsche Design stuff? If you were to think about what you need from your smartphone, I find it very hard to believe that the iPhone is the answer. The iPhone is a want, not a need.


I don't worry about it at all. I'm mostly amused at how people throw their money at such things as the iPhone, and then convince themselves they made a good choice, mostly because the alternative is to accept that they were duped to begin with.

When I say I don't worry about it, I mean it. I wish Apple would continue to dupe people, because this ensures its competitors keep bringing better devices at lower prices, so there's more value for money for people like me.

I wasn't commenting to you, I was mirroring the statement back the guy that posted that. I'm in agreement with your view.

 

[Kiwikat88]

But by the way, she specifically wants it for the unlimited storage of 4k videos. So for that, she might get some value out of Google

Sounds like a...

want, not a need.

... since we're talking about many-multi-hundred dollar smartphones. You completely ruined your argument by being OK with a phone that does less than the iPhone at it's price point.

I'm considering both the Pixel XL and iPhone 7+ right now, because I WANT to spend the money for a top-tier phone (upgrading from Note 4). No, neither one is the best value per dollar, but that does not matter. If you have a problem with people spending money you probably shouldn't be on a forum about Apple products (or any technology, for that matter).

 

[bjet767]

All of you, both sides, are funny. It seems many think they are wise and somehow see the trickery of Apple while others convince themselves the iPhone is a good "value."

I own Apple products because they work well and I'm willing to pay a premium for them. Of course they are expensive and marked up well more than other competing products, that's not trickery or cheating, that's commerce.

The basics of market economics is at work here, Apple can sell stuff at a higher margin because, right now, I and many others will pay it.

Simple.