Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
This is just insane, 8 out of 10 are Apple devices ^^

This ranking is about profits -- meaning that Apple very obviously calculates the product prices with much higher margins than their competition, which in turn simply means that Apple milks its customer a lot more than the other companies. (And that, of course, nobody here wants to hear.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mi7chy
Only when Apple is winning. Typical Apple; hence no Mac OS single digit penetration after 3+ decades. Also major b.s. not to break down sales by device. What's super-secretive Apple afraid of?

Also, iOS vs. Android, it's still 86% Android, 14% iOS.

Imagine if Samsungs didn't break down their high-end phone sales with their $110 my-first-phone • old-people • burner-phone & said: "The Galaxy 9 is spectular in sales!"
[doublepost=1524004526][/doublepost]

Why Rolex is better than Apple Watch. lol

Nice deflection. It doesn't matter the breakdown, or the market share so much in this discussion of profit -- the article is talking about total revenue and profits for ALL smartphones, in real terms. Apple is making 86% of the quarterly profits with its half-dozen models, and just two of Samsung's out of hundreds of OEM models are making any measurable share of the rest.

Apple has half a dozen phone models total, and when it comes to numbers in public reporting, it is the most transparent of these companies, and publishes official numbers signed of on for accounting purposes. Exact phone numbers, avg ASP, avg profit margin, etc. Apple ASP is going up when OEMs' are going down, so higher models of iPhone are selling well (Apple doesn't have to merely say it's "spectacular" -- the numbers speak for themselves).

Apple watch is probably making more units, more revenue, and more profit than Rolex, but we don't know for sure the exact numbers. Asymco.com puts Apple Watch revenue as already surpassing peak iPod in quarterly revenue. Apple Watch is certainly making strides in the health sector (with some insurance companies supplying them to their customers).

As far as marketshare, low digits are fine -- the phone market is orders of magnitude larger than the PC market (everyone on the planet), and once you have a billion customer user base, you aren't going anywhere (especially if you get there slowly by being profitable). Furthermore, it can be argued, that the install base of iPhones is growing faster than install base of Android, though sales of new Androids are so much greater -- that's because people statistically keep each iPhone in use longer; and it has been argued (again, see Asymco.com) that some 60% or so of all iPhones ever produced are still in active use!
 
  • Like
Reactions: blackcrayon
While some here will bash Apple for their high margins, and call iPhone X overprices, I don't. I want Apple to be hugely successful so that they will continue to make awesome products. I don't mind the price of iPhone X. I bought the most expensive model using the iPhone upgrade program. I don't notice the cost that much, and it's not hurting my budget. In years past, I used to buy the base model iPhone, but I got sick of running out of space, so I started buying the top model, starting with iPhone 7.
[doublepost=1524044734][/doublepost]
Just more proof how overpriced the iPhone X is. Massively so looking at this report. One hell of a markup.

Unless you bought one, why do you care if it's "overpriced"? I don't think it is. It's worth every penny. And if you did buy one, why did you do it since it's so "overpriced"?
 
2017:

Apple gross profit margin is 38%
Microsoft gross profit margin is 61%
Google 55%
Samsung 45%

Gross profit margin is a value that indicates the profit margin of the business after all costs accounted.

Pure software companies have much more margin and no one says they are greedy or that are taking their customers for a ride.
 
Uh... an overwhelming majority making phones (99%?) are making a profit, or else it wouldn't make sense for them to still do it. That's why the Zune was discontinued as iPod ate Microsoft's lunch 12-something years ago. Companies like Huawei are like Walmart. They make plenty of money selling to the masses of China at a lower price point. Doesn't mean they aren't brad at how they do it; just different.

Graph source:
http://www.patentlyapple.com/.a/6a0120a5580826970c01bb098fbc63970d-pi

thanks for the graph. it seems very accurate to me.
iPhone sales are still very much heavily skewed toward the North American market.
huawei, oppo, samsung, are all very hot in terms of sales (in quantities) in asia.
they are all just racing to the bottom however in terms of generating profit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: apolloa
Though you do have to pay attention to the metric they are using.

If sales weren't that great, but profits (revenue minus costs) are great, then it just means they managed to charge a massive premium.

footnote: I have X and it is the best phone I have ever had, so I don't mind that I had to give Apple a lot of margin on it.

Agreed, the iPhone X is the best iPhone to date. First time i'm not even caring for an upgrade.
 
So you are saying that if Samsung raised the prices on their phones they'd sell more.
No, they would sell fewer phones (probably) but they would likely make more money.

Samsung is okay, it's all the other phone makers who do not make money. Samsung's profits are hurt though by all the cheap phones they sell. If they only had flagship phones they'd do better profit-wise but would lose market share. Apple's in a good position because they are the only iOS phones.
 
I'm very concerned where Apple will set the entry price on this device. One of the SE's greatest attractions has been the pricing. Given it's popularity and Apple's current risky policy of trading market share for profit margins could be a recipe for disaster. :apple:
Thus logic makes no sense. Does Apple think a “budget phone” model starts at $700. See the new iPad for pricing clues.
 
Build and sell a fraction of the phones of your next competitor, but make many times the profit. That's the kind of business I'd like to own. :)
Why not buy a few shares?

A month's salary invested today could be a year's salary in the bank a few years later.
 
This ranking is about profits -- meaning that Apple very obviously calculates the product prices with much higher margins than their competition, which in turn simply means that Apple milks its customer a lot more than the other companies. (And that, of course, nobody here wants to hear.)

You could say that about just about every purchase anyone makes.

There are, right this second, millions of people spending money on things that I wouldn’t buy. Things that I could easily find an almost unlimited number of “better things to spend the money on”.

Perhaps I could take the time to tell them all that they should be buying something else that they don’t actually want, but I do. However, I think I’ll stuck to just understanding that they probably have different tastes, personal circumstances, disposable income etc to me and therefore it’s probably best for them to actually just buy the thing that they decided upon with those factors taken into account.

Or I could just call them sheep. Because it’s obviously so much easier to just not spend any effort to understand just how and why Apple is as successful as it is, and attribute it all to sheep.

No wonder the critics and the haters keep getting Apple wrong year after year. They don’t understand business in general, and they don’t understand Apple.
 
Tell me again how important market share is.

Volume is healthy from a shareholder standpoint and also for sustained long term growth. Not taking anything away from Apple here, but I feel like they can afford to have a release like this, and then make adjustments to focus more so on volume. The profits will always be there though. Either way, very impressive on Apple's end.
 
This just means the consumer is paying more for less. Bad for consumers but great for the company.
By definition, both the seller and the buyer must be satisfied (i.e. consider it a good exchange) or no transaction is made.
 
Too much profit = greedy. iPhone X could have been $749.

That means that we 'iPhone users' are probably paying to much :(
[doublepost=1524052716][/doublepost]
By definition, both the seller and the buyer must be satisfied (i.e. consider it a good exchange) or no transaction is made.

That would not hold in a 'monopoly (like) market' situation.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: apolloa
2017:

Apple gross profit margin is 38%
Microsoft gross profit margin is 61%
Google 55%
Samsung 45%

Gross profit margin is a value that indicates the profit margin of the business after all costs accounted.

Pure software companies have much more margin and no one says they are greedy or that are taking their customers for a ride.

Funny then how it’s ONLY Apple announcing record multi billion dollar profits far outweighing those other companies you mentioned.
And Google and Microsoft are not ‘only’ software companies, they have made and do make several well known hardware items, like the Xbox???? ......
 
  • Like
Reactions: WatchFromAfar
This ranking is about profits -- meaning that Apple very obviously calculates the product prices with much higher margins than their competition, which in turn simply means that Apple milks its customer a lot more than the other companies. (And that, of course, nobody here wants to hear.)
It’s not about not hearing it, it’s about not caring about it. I don’t hear Ferrari owners cribbing about being milked. Whether a Ferrari or iPhone is a product you feel meet the value proposition is a personal choice.
 

But Steve Jobs is dead...
But what did Steve Jobs ever know...

But this is Cooks Apple..
But I’m making massive profits on my AAPL shares....


Frigging stupid isn’t it, but those would be replies from Apple fans protecting Apple now against that interview.
Considering massive and small companies STILL use Steve Jobs interviews or speeches for inspiration, isn’t it daft Apple and it’s hardcore fans will not?

Remember Cook got to the stage, and announced to the world a 12,000 PLUS dollar watch which came in a plastic box, has a minute lump of gold in its case only, and had the workings mass produced by robots in a Chinese sweat shop factory.. all in the name of ‘fashion’.

They have now priced a mass produced phone at the highest cost in its market, loss sales but EXACTLY as Steve Jobs himself states here made massive profits..
And this year they will be even higher, if you don’t want to pay 1200 or more for the Plus X, tough, that’s what the new ‘cheaper’ X LCD model will be for...

But alas people will gleefully defend this with every last breath in their body despite the warnings from some people’s messiah.

Hope you don’t mind it I’ve pasted your video I’m my reply on page one, to back the claims up from someone who knows all about failed companies and how to resurrect them!

Couldn’t make it up...
[doublepost=1524054974][/doublepost]
Uh, no. It's not overpriced if it is selling well. On the other than, I'm not sure other phones are underpriced either. The market decided Android phones do not deserve a fat margin, that's all.

It’s not selling well? Endless reports in here of parts supplies being cut in half is not the sign of ‘selling well’. Is the complete opposite. Apple is making massive profits from lower sales but massive massive mark ups, across the globe the X price is incredibly high, more so then the US and thus massive profits from lower sales.
And as per the video above, unless you proclaim Jobs is full of it, doesn’t know what he is doing or you yourself know better then him, he quite clearly stated how lower sales and massive profits leads to the death of a companies market share and that product line..
 
Last edited:
Funny then how it’s ONLY Apple announcing record multi billion dollar profits far outweighing those other companies you mentioned.
And Google and Microsoft are not ‘only’ software companies, they have made and do make several well known hardware items, like the Xbox???? ......

That is because Apple is selling like crazy not because they relatively charge more for what they do. In fact, relatively they overall charge less than both MS and Google charge for what they do. When you have 10 million devices sold in a few hours after launch ... make the math ...

MS follows the Gillet model with XBOX One. Lower margin per device, higher margin per software and services.
 
That is because Apple is selling like crazy not because they relatively charge more for what they do. In fact, relatively they overall charge less than both MS and Google charge for what they do. When you have 10 million devices sold in a few hours after launch ... make the math ...

MS follows the Gillet model with XBOX One. Lower margin per device, higher margin per software and services.

So Apple cutting in half the parts ordered globally for its iPhone X in your mind equates to ‘selling like crazy’?
Ok, I don’t see any point continuing as your mind is made up, incorrectly, but made up...
I guess you know better then Steve Jobs, wow!

Also perhaps google and MS are not as greedy as Apple, and follow the words or wisdom like Steve Jobs spoke to ensure their survival.
 
Just think what might have happened if Apple had put 3 GB of DRAM into the smaller iPhone for the first time ! ... i.e., the iPhone 8.

If that had happened, many who recently purchased the 6, 6s OR 7 may have splurged and purchased the 8 !

Still waiting on analysis of the RED iPhone 8 ... if Tim Cook was smart, he put 3 GB into that one !

Apple's success is primarily due to a lack of U.S. competition !

But, the company can also easily be taken down ... Google & GoPro were the best candidates to do, but neither figured-out the best course of action.

Too much sheep mentality in the mobile industry, especially those with War Chests to make things happen on a grand scale !
I think Apple believes that no one gives a crap about how much ram a phone has, those people buy android.
Apparently its working for them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.