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What are you talking about? If you make 40% margin on every phone you sell and sell 100M you make X. If you sell 200M, you make 2X.

My point was that while Apple has good margins, they make so much money because they sell so many phones, not because they rip people off. Their per phone profit is reasonable. They just sell over 200M phones annually, so they make insane money.

I take it you don't work in finance. If a company who's primary product is a phone, is way more profitable than another company who also sells phones, it means they are making way more profit on each phone. We know that Apple charges a premium. Not ringing any bells here???
 
Of course Apple charges a premium.... just as BMW, Audi, Volvo, Rolex, Gucci, etc. all charge premiums for their goods. Value is based on perception. What people perceive is valuable IS valuable... and they will pay a premium for that good or service.
 
Of course Apple charges a premium.... just as BMW, Audi, Volvo, Rolex, Gucci, etc. all charge premiums for their goods. Value is based on perception. What people perceive is valuable IS valuable... and they will pay a premium for that good or service.

You are going to use Rolex as an example of good value? I think you chose a perfect choice. Many people are buying Apple as a misguided status symbol. I give you exhibit A below:

Love it or hate it or merely indifferent to it, in the end that notch is so distinctive that it really is a brilliant marketing move. Sitting in the library, hanging out in the doctor's or dentist's waiting room, sitting on the train or the bus, a casual glance at the person seated to you makes it immediately clear that he or she is using Apple's iPhone X -- not an older iPhone, not the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus, not a Samsung or Android whatchamacallit, but the shiny new APPLE FLAGSHIP device. BOOM!!! That instant recognition factor is worth a lot, folks.....

Good for Apple that they have people like this guy. Its very profitable. Me, I look at value based on what the device will do for me and not whether a total stranger is impressed.
 
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Good for Apple that they have people like this guy. Its very profitable. Me, I look at value based on what the device will do for me and not whether a total stranger is impressed.

You're pretty angry about all this. But here's the reason I pick iPhone over Android anything.... Android is made by the single largest, and most prolific data mining company on the planet. Bar none. This data mining company created an operating system that goes inside of device that likely contains all of your contacts, emails, and other communication. It also has web abilities so gathering all of your surfing and shopping habits are extremely easy. And on top of this this device has a GPS which not only allows for tracking every movement of the user... they actually do. As they admitted to congress a few years back when EFF discovered that Google was tracking the movement of their users. In which Google replied (paraphrased) that gathering data is in the user agreement.

No thanks.

I don't care what features Android produces... I'll never own anything Google. I'm proud to say my home is a Google-Free™ zone. I used to champion this company... but they'll never see their way into my home ever again.
 
I take it you don't work in finance. If a company who's primary product is a phone, is way more profitable than another company who also sells phones, it means they are making way more profit on each phone. We know that Apple charges a premium. Not ringing any bells here???
Lol, I’m a Wharton grad and do investment banking on a daily basis. .I think we are talking apples and oranges.

I went back and read your post and my example proves I understand margin, but I didn’t read your post thoroughly when I responded. You said margin % has no impact on how many they sell. If they had some insane margin, people might not see value and it would impact sales negatively.

I simply said, the more you sell, the more you make. My point was that AAPL makes reasonable margins but makes a ton of profit in aggregate because they sell so many phones, not because they make an insane margin per phone.

AAPL makes margins more consistent with a software company, because that’s really what they are. They aren’t a typical hardware commodity player making 3% margins. MSFT makes higher margins as most of their revenues are purely software driven. AAPL has 38% GM, while MSFT is like 65%.
 
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You're pretty angry about all this. But here's the reason I pick iPhone over Android anything.... Android is made by the single largest, and most prolific data mining company on the planet. Bar none. This data mining company created an operating system that goes inside of device that likely contains all of your contacts, emails, and other communication. It also has web abilities so gathering all of your surfing and shopping habits are extremely easy. And on top of this this device has a GPS which not only allows for tracking every movement of the user... they actually do. As they admitted to congress a few years back when EFF discovered that Google was tracking the movement of their users. In which Google replied (paraphrased) that gathering data is in the user agreement.

No thanks.

I don't care what features Android produces... I'll never own anything Google. I'm proud to say my home is a Google-Free zone. I used to champion this company... but they'll never see their way into my home ever again.

Not sure where you picked up any anger. Why would I be angry? We are talking about smartphones. I enjoy discussing them and learning about them.

Good luck being on the grid and avoiding companies that mine data about you. You have way less to worry about with Google than many others. There business depends on data. They would be pretty dumb to do anything to jeopardize their data. I don't see them as dumb. I've made a ton of money from Google as a web publisher, so I have some familiarity with their use of data.
 
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There's a difference between someone attempting to mine your data and you opening the door and letting the data mining company in. There are numerous ways one can reduce their online profile and the data mining that comes with it. You should re-read what I wrote about the Android OS. No other data mining company has that type of data access. None. Nada. Zip. And you literally handed it over to them.
 
There's a difference between someone attempting to mine your data and you opening the door and letting the data mining company in. There are numerous ways one can reduce their online profile and the data mining that comes with it. You should re-read what I wrote about the Android OS. No other data mining company has that type of data access. None. Nada. Zip. And you literally handed it over to them.

Not exactly, but I'm good with it. Your data is being mined by far worse that you probably aren't even aware of.
 
I will probably get a bunch of smack for this... But I would much rather trust my data with Google than Apple. The amount of times I hear about iCloud accounts, celeb nudes, Apple data breaches, etc... I would just rather not...

Google on the other hand is actually doing positive things all around the world, for the greater good. Just compare each others keynotes from this year, one company only caring about profit and silly gimmicks, while the other focused on AI.
 
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I love iOS since the first iPhone and I’m typing on an iPhone X now. Video was still pretty funny and acccurate.
Same. Except it’s not as accurate for me because I haven’t lined up for the iPhone, ever. And I’ve always gotten the iPhone the day of, or weekend of, launch.

The video doesn’t make me want to go over to android or Samsung. The phone (imo) is still ugly. I don’t need an extra thing (stylus) that would be easy to lose. And even when I was super mad at Apple, and went into a store committed to walking out with an Android...I just couldn’t do it.


My only compliant about the X is that it’s starting to look a little more like Android then what I usually associate as an iPhone design...and while it’s never been 100% seamless, it seems to get just a teeny bit more buggy each year.

Still, I cannot give up the design and iOS of an iPhone.
 
Same. Except it’s not as accurate for me because I haven’t lined up for the iPhone, ever. And I’ve always gotten the iPhone the day of, or weekend of, launch.

The video doesn’t make me want to go over to android or Samsung. The phone (imo) is still ugly. I don’t need an extra thing (stylus) that would be easy to lose. And even when I was super mad at Apple, and went into a store committed to walking out with an Android...I just couldn’t do it.


My only compliant about the X is that it’s starting to look a little more like Android then what I usually associate as an iPhone design...and while it’s never been 100% seamless, it seems to get just a teeny bit more buggy each year.

Still, I cannot give up the design and iOS of an iPhone.

Some people may be swayed when they realized a $600 S8 can do as much or more than $1000-1200 Iphone X.
 
29 pages later we are still arguing about an ad that Samsung put out as a marketing tool against the iPhone. I have to ask, do you guys not have a life outside of a phone?

"Boom, instant recognition"
shibuya12_0.jpg
A
bout a phone? Does that somehow translate to success? Are you really serious? Time to step back and look at who we have become. A society of smartphone users?
 
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Some people may be swayed when they realized a $600 S8 can do as much or more than $1000-1200 Iphone X.
It depends.

I’m sure android can do all that iPhone does and more, but I find those who tend to gravitate towards iPhone likes simplicity and for it to simply “work”. We don’t care about customizing it all out. Just little tweaks here and there. We don’t need to do anything crazy fancy unless it’s streamlined and made intuitive.

Androids are for those people who don’t mind wearing a jacket from Zara because it’s $100 dollars versus the $1200 bal version (that it drew inspiration from) and thinks it looks the same.

Apple is for those who likes a beautifully designed, thought-out phone. It’s seamless so you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how to set it up or setting it up. It’s just a device. It’s what you can do with the device that’s important.
 
It depends.

I’m sure android can do all that iPhone does and more, but I find those who tend to gravitate towards iPhone likes simplicity and for it to simply “work”. We don’t care about customizing it all out. Just little tweaks here and there. We don’t need to do anything crazy fancy unless it’s streamlined and made intuitive.

Androids are for those people who don’t mind wearing a jacket from Zara because it’s $100 dollars versus the $1200 bal version (that it drew inspiration from) and thinks it looks the same.

Apple is for those who likes a beautifully designed, thought-out phone. It’s seamless so you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how to set it up or setting it up. It’s just a device. It’s what you can do with the device that’s important.

If you can use an iphone, you are smart enough to use a Samsung/Android. It is just excuses if you said otherwise.
Most android launchers also cater to the iphone crowd if you want boring grid of icons.

There are many areas I can think of that Apple didnt think about the design of the iphone.
- ugly camera bump
- notch
- notification mess
- centralized Settings mess
- overlapping 3D touch and long press
- non freely rearrangeable icons
etc
 
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I will probably get a bunch of smack for this... But I would much rather trust my data with Google than Apple. The amount of times I hear about iCloud accounts, celeb nudes, Apple data breaches, etc... I would just rather not...

Google on the other hand is actually doing positive things all around the world, for the greater good. Just compare each others keynotes from this year, one company only caring about profit and silly gimmicks, while the other focused on AI.

Please list all the occasions there were Apple data breaches? As for the iCloud leak that was proven to be phishing.

To be fair I don’t think either Google or Apple have ever been hacked like say Sony were.

The second part of your post is ridiculous- the only worse data mining is done by Facebook. If you think that is “doing “ good and ignore the positive things Apple has been doing well I just can’t take that seriously.

AI is something I am not sure is good or bad by the way.
 
If you can use an iphone, you are smart enough to use a Samsung/Android. It is just excuses if you said otherwise.
Most android launchers also cater to the iphone crowd if you want boring grid of icons.

There are many areas I can think of that Apple didnt think about the design of the iphone.
- ugly camera bump
- notch
- notification mess
- centralized Settings mess
- overlapping 3D touch and long press
- non freely rearrangeable icons
etc

Hah. I like the underhanded, passive aggressiveness you’ve got going on here. Super telling. It’s not excuses. I didn’t say I wasn’t smart enough to use an android. It’s not intuitive like an iPhone. I don’t know how else to explain this to you but to give an example.

It’s like if you were an artist and you’re given two brushes to choose from. One of them is super “fancy” sounding, with all of the latest tech thrown on it, but hasn’t had the time to test the heck out of it, to make sure it’s aware of the artist. The other is a well built brush, not as “fancy” but still tech-compatible. To a tech person whose just about the wow factor and not necessarily the art, they’re going to be taken in by brush 1. The people who care more about what they can produce with the brush, the artists, is going to want brush 2.

Ugly camera bump is what reminds me of an android. But really, it’s nbd since it’s in the top left hand corner of the back of the phone. It’s not like it’s in the middle of anything, where my fingers can easily reach.

ETA-at the end of the day, people want something they can use, that would connect them to the world. iOS interface is prettier then any android’s. There’s a reason Apple made a comeback the second time around...not only did they focus on the functionality of the hardware and software but the design of the product. They took a world of ugly PCs and made it pretty.
 
It depends.

I’m sure android can do all that iPhone does and more, but I find those who tend to gravitate towards iPhone likes simplicity and for it to simply “work”. We don’t care about customizing it all out. Just little tweaks here and there. We don’t need to do anything crazy fancy unless it’s streamlined and made intuitive.

Androids are for those people who don’t mind wearing a jacket from Zara because it’s $100 dollars versus the $1200 bal version (that it drew inspiration from) and thinks it looks the same.

Apple is for those who likes a beautifully designed, thought-out phone. It’s seamless so you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how to set it up or setting it up. It’s just a device. It’s what you can do with the device that’s important.

You are saying that an Android phone is like a $100 knock off of a designer $1200 jacket? First, off, I think anyone that would buy the $1200 version is crazy. And if you think that the flagship Android phones are $100 phones in comparison to Apple's X, then I think you are blinded by Apple's marketing.

The X is not an attractive phone to me. Airpods look ridiculous and I literally chuckle to myself ever time I see someone wearing them. Even though I wore an Apple Watch for 2 years, I never cared for the look of it. Just because Apple creates something, it doesn't make it a beautiful design. And they clearly put their view of design as a higher priority than "what you can do with it".

On the subject of "what you can do with the device" being most important, Apple has been a big let down in many areas for me. There are many things I can do with my Note 8 that I can't do with an iPhone. There are many things I can do with my Surface Pro that I can't do with a Macbook. Apple decides for you what things they are going to let you do. I can run two apps at the same time on my Note 8, but I can't on an iPhone. Just one example of Apple choosing to not let you do something.
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Ugly camera bump is what reminds me of an android. But really, it’s nbd since it’s in the top left hand corner of the back of the phone. It’s not like it’s in the middle of anything, where my fingers can easily reach.

Really... I can lay my Android phone on a flat table and use it. Lay your iPhone on a table and try to use it. It will wobble because of that camera bump. So you can justify it all you want, but your camera bump is a bad design both in appearance and usability, in comparison to my Android phone.
 
You are saying that an Android phone is like a $100 knock off of a designer $1200 jacket? First, off, I think anyone that would buy the $1200 version is crazy. And if you think that the flagship Android phones are $100 phones in comparison to Apple's X, then I think you are blinded by Apple's marketing.

The X is not an attractive phone to me. Airpods look ridiculous and I literally chuckle to myself ever time I see someone wearing them. Even though I wore an Apple Watch for 2 years, I never cared for the look of it. Just because Apple creates something, it doesn't make it a beautiful design. And they clearly put their view of design as a higher priority than "what you can do with it".

On the subject of "what you can do with the device" being most important, Apple has been a big let down in many areas for me. There are many things I can do with my Note 8 that I can't do with an iPhone. There are many things I can do with my Surface Pro that I can't do with a Macbook. Apple decides for you what things they are going to let you do. I can run two apps at the same time on my Note 8, but I can't on an iPhone. Just one example of Apple choosing to not let you do something.
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Really... I can lay my Android phone on a flat table and use it. Lay your iPhone on a table and try to use it. It will wobble because of that camera bump. So you can justify it all you want, but your camera bump is a bad design both in appearance and usability, in comparison to my Android phone.
I’m saying that in reference to the lower end models of android out there, but sure, why not.

I have a problem with the X reminding me more and more of an android (look wise) but apples marketing got me over that hump (10).

() is for level of sarcasm btw.

AirPods to me are awesome. Look wise I don’t find it offensive enough to chuckle, but the fact that they’re only $159 with their own charging case (the battery life! I don’t need to charge it more then once a week)—and has microphone on both sides...I’ve spent more on my master and dynamics, beats before Apple brought it, etc. basically they’re a bargain in apple’s ecosystem..for what they can do.

I’m glad you’re into Microsoft because I’m invested in them as well, so it’s not like I want everyone to jump on the Apple train. To me, Apple just makes better products period.
 
Everybody else is just flapping their lips now, figured I might as well flap mine.
The biggest issue for me re the iPhone vs android debate is the ecosystem. I am firmly embedded in the apple ecosystem and really don't want to train myself to the android ecosystem. It's taken a number of years to get comfortable with iOS and I am no power user, just a senior who doesn't want to waste what time I have left learning a new "language". Heck, apple tends to change iOS itself enough that every year is a new minor learning curve why would I take on a new major learning curve shifting to android.
Secondly, I have enough friends using android that I realize it's usually what you started with that you are comfortable with so why not just stay with that. Each system has many pluses and minuses. I'll find other new things to learn besides my mobile phones OS.
 
Please list all the occasions there were Apple data breaches? As for the iCloud leak that was proven to be phishing.

To be fair I don’t think either Google or Apple have ever been hacked like say Sony were.

The second part of your post is ridiculous- the only worse data mining is done by Facebook. If you think that is “doing “ good and ignore the positive things Apple has been doing well I just can’t take that seriously.

AI is something I am not sure is good or bad by the way.
Link
Go ahead and start clicking through the lists. Since I answered your question, can you answer mine now? What good has Apple done for it's customers, or better yet, the world? What have they done for people without asking for money in return? Take your time, I'll still be here if you can come up with something.
 
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