Tim Cook Says Apple's $1 Trillion Value is a 'Significant Milestone' But 'Not the Most Important Measure of Success' in Employee Memo

[Abazigal]

So you know Cook personally then? Because that is the ONLY way you can claim he is kind. That is not an assumption you can make by reading the media or watching interviews.
He has also led the stocks and profits to ‘amazing growth’, not the company.

And how else would profits at Apple increase, if not by making great products which consumers are happy to pay for? That sounds like growth in my book. Both in terms of profits and the company.

If the haters here want to hold him accountable for every single mistake which Apple makes, it stands to reason that he ought to get the credit when Apple does something right as well, doesn’t it?

 

[citysnaps]

This 93%, is that global customers or as I suspect, US customers? And where does this data come from, an independent survey or Apple themselves.

With respect to global Apple customers... How about 200+ million of them repeatedly purchasing Apple products at premium prices, year after year after year?

If that's not persuasive, and since you brought the subject up, feel free to post your credible/verifiable number or metric.

 

[dogslobber]

No, you made the claim. I’m challenging that claim.

Re-read what you originally wrote then present your evidence.
[doublepost=1533426146][/doublepost]

https://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2016/12/6/milking-the-iphone

I wouldn’t call the massive growth that Apple has experienced under Tim Cook’s stewardship as just “coasting along”.

AAPL was worth almost $400 thousand million when Steve passed so anything since then is drifting along on the back of what Steve did. All Cook has done is kept his hands on the ship's wheel and not deviated any.
[doublepost=1533426284][/doublepost]

The fact that they release a new watch every year (they wouldn't do that if it wasn't successful), report selling "more than ever" every year, and that the Apple Watch is rated so high in customer satisfaction is enough of a "benchmark" for me to call it a successful product.

I never claimed Tim Cook is a visionary. I'm just pointing out that he's smart enough to stick to the vision of Steve Jobs, who was a great visionary, at least according to those on this forum complaining about Cook.

The watch is a piece of junk. If this is the only new product that Cook's tenure has presented then that pretty much underlines exactly how limiting his tenure has been for AAPL. After all, this is the guy who reintroduced stock dividends.
[doublepost=1533426397][/doublepost]

I guess Microsoft’s Surface isn’t a successful product because they’ve never provided sales figures for it. Same with Amazon Prime as they rarely provide figures on how many people are signed up.

Honestly I wish Apple stopped providing sales figures for all their products. Only give Wall Street the absolute minimum necessary to file a 10-Q/K.

MSFT method for reporting their products is completely irrelevant to AAPL. The only thing that matters for AAPL investors is precedent of how they've previously reported successful product segments. By that benchmark, and until proven otherwise with actual NUMBERS, the iWatch is a flop.

 

[az431]

I really can’t stand this man.

Yeah, horrible human being.

 

[Whathappened]

I really can’t stand this man.

That’s what most people said about Steve.
Now I am convinced Tim is the right guy for the job.

 

[az431]

“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” SJ

Why are you attributing this to Steve Jobs?

 

[I7guy]

Re-read what you originally wrote then present your evidence.
[doublepost=1533426146][/doublepost]
AAPL was worth almost $400 thousand million when Steve passed so anything since then is drifting along on the back of what Steve did. All Cook has done is kept his hands on the ship's wheel and not deviated any.
[doublepost=1533426284][/doublepost]
The watch is a piece of junk. If this is the only new product that Cook's tenure has presented then that pretty much underlines exactly how limiting his tenure has been for AAPL. After all, this is the guy who reintroduced stock dividends.
[doublepost=1533426397][/doublepost]
MSFT method for reporting their products is completely irrelevant to AAPL. The only thing that matters for AAPL investors is precedent of how they've previously reported successful product segments. By that benchmark, and until proven otherwise with actual NUMBERS, the iWatch is a flop.

Reread your original post that started this. Some general claim with no substance.

As far as Cook steering the ship he is doing exactly what he should be doing, avoiding the ice floes. And whatever your judgement is on the watch the universe isnt listening. The universe believes, by the numbers the Apple Watch is a success.

You can spin this anyway 1T is 1T

 

[-BigMac-]

So you know Cook personally then? Because that is the ONLY way you can claim he is kind. That is not an assumption you can make by reading the media or watching interviews.
He has also led the stocks and profits to ‘amazing growth’, not the company.
[doublepost=1533417616][/doublepost]

This 93%, is that global customers or as I suspect, US customers? And where does this data come from, an independent survey or Apple themselves.

I wouldnt know as I was not the one who mentioned the 93% first, was simply replying.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

but if apple is slow to innovate the competition is innovating at an even slower pace. Unless you believe innovation is slapping an sd card reader in a phone.

A phone? When you think innovation and skip right over the mac and talk about a telephone, is representative of the problem.

If you put every "thanks to this invention, in the future, computers will be able to do x y z" innovation that's been available to computer companies over even just the last 30 years on display, it would make these product lines that have barely changed (except for losing unique features) in decades pretty hard to explain. For heavens sake, even Microsoft, stumbling empire of ineptitude with the charisma of cardboard cutout, who still after 40 years can't arrange its own OS's commands and settings in an efficient sensible way, can still slap together a handful of devices that sure, are still Windows quagmires, but at least TRY something. Microsoft??? Apples most popular computers are notebooks. They make the most popular notebooks on the market, and they still can't put a 17" laptop program together. They just spent a decade selling us on touchscreen computers as the form factor of the future, and then tripped and fell not being able to see the need for professional OS X software on a larger touch display. But fine, ignore the future they helped usher in. Their entire product line is in tatters and/or expired. External displays, MIA. Time Capsule, DOA. Air Express, EOL'd. TV, still half baked. Mac Pro, Mac Mini, iPad Mini, etc etc etc. Half the hardware they do bother to make, continually complained about being years outdated and still priced to the moon as if it's current. Non-upgradable disposable eco-friendly computers? The product side of this company is a complete mess. Their lines are fragmented, redundant and full of old bloat and unclear, overlapping categories. The services aren't much better, and their inexplicable forays into content go nowhere. You know they're capable of excellence, there are glimpses of it all over. It makes it even more impressive that they can be as successful as they are with such a tangled birds nest of a product catalog. In most consumer goods, when companies produce a line with even one of those problems, they're perceived as inept, poorly managed, and shunned out of the industry in short order. It seems like in computers, there is either no real competition, or just absurdly low customer expectations, and as long as someone is still buying whatever they're selling, these companies are willing to coast. It's maddening.

 

[Naraxus]

it stands to reason that he ought to get the credit when Apple does something right as well, doesn’t it?

Let us know when that happens
[doublepost=1533461394][/doublepost]

The universe believes, by the numbers the Apple Watch is a success.

El oh el. Talk about spin. Apple doesn't break out any numbers for the Watch so how can you conclude it's a success?

 

[dilbert99]

I guess I just don’t see what the uproar is over it at the end of the day. Apple puts out a product, charges a price they think the market can bear, and the consumers vote with their wallet. This isn’t some pharmaceutical company jacking up the price of some essential life-saving drug by a hundred times. Nobody is going to die if they can’t afford the latest iPhone. And I honestly don’t find Apple products all that expensive relative to the rest of the competition, especially when it comes to the utility they provide.

Just because some of you are happy with whatever profits Apple makes, doesn't mean that everyone needs to be happy about it. They make great, easy to use products that can only be afforded by a small amount of the consumer base.
Apple are making their phones more expensive at a time when others are able to reduce the cost of theirs.
I've bought Apple gear for other people in the family that can't afford it and it would be great instead of Apple making such obscene profits that they gave something back to their loyal customers in terms of lower prices and better conditions for people in the supply chain wouldn't go amiss either.
[doublepost=1533461789][/doublepost]

You can object based on your opinion all you want, in line with your personal financial situation.

But concluding a product isn't "properly priced from a consumer point of view" is saying much more, as if you are speaking for consumers in general. Which is fine if you've conducted a survey properly sampling the consumer space.

In the meantime, I'll go with the 200+ million consumers who repeatedly open their wallets to purchase outstanding Apple products year after year after year.


"...to the obscene profits that Apple makes at the expense of their customers"

Obscene profits? Hardly. Apple's GPMs at around 38% are within industry norms and less than Samsung's (around 46%).

Nice stats that you can't back up

 

[Abazigal]

Just because some of you are happy with whatever profits Apple makes, doesn't mean that everyone needs to be happy about it. They make great, easy to use products that can only be afforded by a small amount of the consumer base.
Apple are making their phones more expensive at a time when others are able to reduce the cost of theirs.
I've bought Apple gear for other people in the family that can't afford it and it would be great instead of Apple making such obscene profits that they gave something back to their loyal customers in terms of lower prices and better conditions for people in the supply chain wouldn't go amiss either.

I have never understood this line of thinking. When you buy an Apple product (or any product for that matter), you do so because it meets your needs and you find value in said expenditure.

It’s purely transactional and Apple doesn’t really owe me or you or anyone else anything. If anything, the recent sales figures suggest that there is room for iPhone ASPs to go even higher, and consumers have shown that they are perfectly willing to pay.

So yeah, I guess we will see more people griping about this when Apple unveils even more expensive iPhones, I suppose.

 

[OllyW]

So yeah, I guess we will see more people griping about this when Apple unveils even more expensive iPhones, I suppose.

It’s totally understandable people will complain though. Not so long back the top end iPhone was available from £500 and now it starts at £1000. A lot of people will have been left behind by such a big jump so they are entitled to voice their opinions.

 

[apolloa]

And how else would profits at Apple increase, if not by making great products which consumers are happy to pay for? That sounds like growth in my book. Both in terms of profits and the company.

If the haters here want to hold him accountable for every single mistake which Apple makes, it stands to reason that he ought to get the credit when Apple does something right as well, doesn’t it?

Your confusing locked into an ecosystem with great products.
They have made terrible products, people are buying them because they are locked in more then anything. Computers that are none serviceable, using years old tech and are glued together but cost a premium.
The battery design flaw fiasco, iOS 11’s endless endless bugs..

The decision to move to Intel modems for the next iPhone that have been proven time and time again to be easily out performed by Qualcomm, the issue with this is not the speeds but more so the signal strength.

All decisions taken by Cook and his team, and then we have the Apple Watch, the device with a 20 dollar internal made on a Chinese Sweat shop he had the cheek to get on stage and say costs 12,000 Plus because of a leather strap and a small lump of gold.
But then again he charges a grand for the base X which is a ludicrous price and it’s overpriced too.

It’s nit surprising they have massive profit, they make their products for peanuts and massive mark them up.

They can more then afford to update their entire line up yearly, instead they chose to do one and one only. Now that’s up to them, but it’s hardly a success if your entire companies existence relies on one product only, that you still manage to screw up.

Of iOS 12 doesn’t fix all the bugs, or the Intel modems causes much weaker signal strength I’m at a loss how anyone can defend them still. Unless your a share holder that is.

If Cooks success is purely measured in profits and market value then great, but don’t hide from the way they’ve done that.. it’s not been in a very honourable way to the customer base.

We ourselves have every single right to complain though, we use iOS and Apple Warches because they are what we prefer, we use OSX because it’s nit Windows, so when we’ve also had several years of putting up with the issues these products have whilst Apple gets richer and richer and richer, again I think we have every single right to complain in here or anywhere else.
A ‘hater’ is mearly someone who wants their favourite device to work as it’s supposed to.

[doublepost=1533468615][/doublepost]

I wouldnt know as I was not the one who mentioned the 93% first, was simply replying.

I know you didn’t mention it, I was trying to make a post supporting your comment whilst showing how stupid the statistic was. Not sure if it came across that way?
[doublepost=1533468675][/doublepost]

HAUAHUUHAUHA True costumers? I'm very happy with every decision Apple is making.

You speak for yourself. And apparently the numbers also destroy you theory.

A very small number of sad people complain about every single thing Apple makes. The majority off costumers are happy.

93% costumer satisfaction. The highest in the industry.

Please post a link to this customer satisfaction survey.

 

[Lioness~]

Tim Cook is Tim Cook.
I think he's pretty cool.
He's doing a outstanding job, the best job he can.
And Apple will continue....

He's not Steve.
Apple is something else today.
Accept it.

 

[-BigMac-]

Your confusing locked into an ecosystem with great products.
They have made terrible products, people are buying them because they are locked in more then anything. Computers that are none serviceable, using years old tech and are glued together but cost a premium.
The battery design flaw fiasco, iOS 11’s endless endless bugs..

The decision to move to Intel modems for the next iPhone that have been proven time and time again to be easily out performed by Qualcomm, the issue with this is not the speeds but more so the signal strength.

All decisions taken by Cook and his team, and then we have the Apple Watch, the device with a 20 dollar internal made on a Chinese Sweat shop he had the cheek to get on stage and say costs 12,000 Plus because of a leather strap and a small lump of gold.
But then again he charges a grand for the base X which is a ludicrous price and it’s overpriced too.

It’s nit surprising they have massive profit, they make their products for peanuts and massive mark them up.

They can more then afford to update their entire line up yearly, instead they chose to do one and one only. Now that’s up to them, but it’s hardly a success if your entire companies existence relies on one product only, that you still manage to screw up.

Of iOS 12 doesn’t fix all the bugs, or the Intel modems causes much weaker signal strength I’m at a loss how anyone can defend them still. Unless your a share holder that is.

If Cooks success is purely measured in profits and market value then great, but don’t hide from the way they’ve done that.. it’s not been in a very honourable way to the customer base.

We ourselves have every single right to complain though, we use iOS and Apple Warches because they are what we prefer, we use OSX because it’s nit Windows, so when we’ve also had several years of putting up with the issues these products have whilst Apple gets richer and richer and richer, again I think we have every single right to complain in here or anywhere else.
A ‘hater’ is mearly someone who wants their favourite device to work as it’s supposed to.

[doublepost=1533468615][/doublepost]

I know you didn’t mention it, I was trying to make a post supporting your comment whilst showing how stupid the statistic was. Not sure if it came across that way?
[doublepost=1533468675][/doublepost]

Please post a link to this customer satisfaction survey.

yea i fully agree haha i love statistics being presented, makes me giggle

 

[I7guy]

Let us know when that happens
[doublepost=1533461394][/doublepost]

El oh el. Talk about spin. Apple doesn't break out any numbers for the Watch so how can you conclude it's a success?

In case you haven't been following:
- Tim Cook said it was the best selling smartwatch (and he's obligated not to lie)
- The companies that estimate this thing, estimate apple watch is a best seller

http://fortune.com/2018/02/20/apple-watch-sales-smartwatch/

Conclusion: what I said, even if the exact numbers aren't known.
[doublepost=1533476272][/doublepost]

A phone? When you think innovation and skip right over the mac and talk about a telephone, is representative of the problem.

If you put every "thanks to this invention, in the future, computers will be able to do x y z" innovation that's been available to computer companies over even just the last 30 years on display, it would make these product lines that have barely changed (except for losing unique features) in decades pretty hard to explain. For heavens sake, even Microsoft, stumbling empire of ineptitude with the charisma of cardboard cutout, who still after 40 years can't arrange its own OS's commands and settings in an efficient sensible way, can still slap together a handful of devices that sure, are still Windows quagmires, but at least TRY something. Microsoft??? Apples most popular computers are notebooks. They make the most popular notebooks on the market, and they still can't put a 17" laptop program together. They just spent a decade selling us on touchscreen computers as the form factor of the future, and then tripped and fell not being able to see the need for professional OS X software on a larger touch display. But fine, ignore the future they helped usher in. Their entire product line is in tatters and/or expired. External displays, MIA. Time Capsule, DOA. Air Express, EOL'd. TV, still half baked. Mac Pro, Mac Mini, iPad Mini, etc etc etc. Half the hardware they do bother to make, continually complained about being years outdated and still priced to the moon as if it's current. Non-upgradable disposable eco-friendly computers? The product side of this company is a complete mess. Their lines are fragmented, redundant and full of old bloat and unclear, overlapping categories. The services aren't much better, and their inexplicable forays into content go nowhere. You know they're capable of excellence, there are glimpses of it all over. It makes it even more impressive that they can be as successful as they are with such a tangled birds nest of a product catalog. In most consumer goods, when companies produce a line with even one of those problems, they're perceived as inept, poorly managed, and shunned out of the industry in short order. It seems like in computers, there is either no real competition, or just absurdly low customer expectations, and as long as someone is still buying whatever they're selling, these companies are willing to coast. It's maddening.

There is nothing wrong with focusing innovation into the iPhones as the market is much more competitive at that level.

You may have some legitimate comments on the Mac, but my family has three Macbooks and we love them. As far as the product line being in "tatters" Apple does have a plan, unfortunately you and I are not privy to it.

I don't see the product side being a confusing mess as you put it, nor do I see an issue with the service side. What I do see, is typical apple slowly building a business. Take apple pay for an example, all of a sudden it taking off faster than a rocket ship.

But what really had me laughing is the line about absurdly low customer expectations. Says a lot.

 

[m3t4L_m4n]

Is there a way to ignore all articles with tag “Tim Cook” ?? Yeah, that’d be great

 

[I7guy]

Just because some of you are happy with whatever profits Apple makes, doesn't mean that everyone needs to be happy about it. They make great, easy to use products that can only be afforded by a small amount of the consumer base.
Apple are making their phones more expensive at a time when others are able to reduce the cost of theirs.
I've bought Apple gear for other people in the family that can't afford it and it would be great instead of Apple making such obscene profits that they gave something back to their loyal customers in terms of lower prices and better conditions for people in the supply chain wouldn't go amiss either.
[doublepost=1533461789][/doublepost]
Nice stats that you can't back up

I don’t see my local supermarket, gas station or dry cleaning stores giving me, a loyal customer for 20 years a break. That’s not real world thinking.

And what other manufacturers reduced the price of their phones, except for a fire sale?

If you don’t like supply chain conditions, then boycott Apple. I think it’s worse in factories that sell goods to big box stores. And those stores are doing well, so while there may be some legitimate complaints, the only way to hit Apple is in the pocket book.

Your confusing locked into an ecosystem with great products.
They have made terrible products, people are buying them because they are locked in more then anything. Computers that are none serviceable, using years old tech and are glued together but cost a premium.
The battery design flaw fiasco, iOS 11’s endless endless bugs..

The decision to move to Intel modems for the next iPhone that have been proven time and time again to be easily out performed by Qualcomm, the issue with this is not the speeds but more so the signal strength.

All decisions taken by Cook and his team, and then we have the Apple Watch, the device with a 20 dollar internal made on a Chinese Sweat shop he had the cheek to get on stage and say costs 12,000 Plus because of a leather strap and a small lump of gold.
But then again he charges a grand for the base X which is a ludicrous price and it’s overpriced too.

It’s nit surprising they have massive profit, they make their products for peanuts and massive mark them up.

They can more then afford to update their entire line up yearly, instead they chose to do one and one only. Now that’s up to them, but it’s hardly a success if your entire companies existence relies on one product only, that you still manage to screw up.

Of iOS 12 doesn’t fix all the bugs, or the Intel modems causes much weaker signal strength I’m at a loss how anyone can defend them still. Unless your a share holder that is.

If Cooks success is purely measured in profits and market value then great, but don’t hide from the way they’ve done that.. it’s not been in a very honourable way to the customer base.

We ourselves have every single right to complain though, we use iOS and Apple Warches because they are what we prefer, we use OSX because it’s nit Windows, so when we’ve also had several years of putting up with the issues these products have whilst Apple gets richer and richer and richer, again I think we have every single right to complain in here or anywhere else.
A ‘hater’ is mearly someone who wants their favourite device to work as it’s supposed to.

[doublepost=1533468615][/doublepost]

I know you didn’t mention it, I was trying to make a post supporting your comment whilst showing how stupid the statistic was. Not sure if it came across that way?
[doublepost=1533468675][/doublepost]

Please post a link to this customer satisfaction survey.

Maybe people are buying apple’s products because their customers like them. Where is your proof they purchased products because they are locked in?

Also, the note 7 was a battery fiasco and iOS 11 does not have endless bugs. Seems to me to be in-line with other releases. As far some other comments like the sweat shops, intel modems, etc, meh.

 

[citysnaps]

Nice stats that you can't back up

It's public information.

With iPhones alone, for fiscal 2017 Apple sold 216 million phones (roughly 594 thousand sold per day, every day, on average). Granted, some people may have several. But then there are iPads, Macs, AirPods, etc. True, some people have multiple devices, and I'm sure you'll nitpick on that.

And then one can look at the number of active credit card numbers Apple has on file, for iTunes, Apple Music, services, product purchases, etc. More than 1 billion of those.

 

[Rogifan]

MSFT method for reporting their products is completely irrelevant to AAPL. The only thing that matters for AAPL investors is precedent of how they've previously reported successful product segments. By that benchmark, and until proven otherwise with actual NUMBERS, the iWatch is a flop.

Just because Apple has done something a certain way in the past doesn’t mean they always have to do it that way in the future. The iPhone has been such a huge success nothing can compare to it. If Apple Watch had its own breakout of course it would be compared with the iPhone and selling 3-5 million in a quarter would be considered a flop. There is absolutely no upside to Apple breaking out Watch figures.
[doublepost=1533495956][/doublepost]

Maybe people are buying apple’s products because their customers like them. Where is your proof they purchased products because they are locked in?

Also, the note 7 was a battery fiasco and iOS 11 does not have endless bugs. Seems to me to be in-line with other releases. As far some other comments like the sweat shops, intel modems, etc, meh.

I don’t get the lock-in argument. I can’t believe that many people have all these purchased apps or only things they can get on Apple platforms where they can’t leave. The only thing I would consider true lock-in is iMessage. A more understandable argument is that getting a new phone and changing platforms/carriers isn’t fun so some people stick with what they have even if the don’t love it because they can’t be bothered/don’t have the time to get something else.

 

[Naraxus]

In case you haven't been following:
- Tim Cook said it was the best selling smartwatch (and he's obligated not to lie)
- The companies that estimate this thing, estimate apple watch is a best seller

http://fortune.com/2018/02/20/apple-watch-sales-smartwatch/

Conclusion: what I said, even if the exact numbers aren't known.

Estimates and Cook's boasting are not HARD NUMBERS.
I can estimate that my personal net worth is in the millions but sans my bank book you have no way of knowing if that statement is true. You said specifically that "By the numbers Apple Watch is a success". I'm saying we have no way of knowing that without hard numbers.

Don't get me wrong I do believe that Apple Watch is a success - I see it all the time in emergency rooms and at my doctor's. I just wish they wouldn't hide it in the "Other" category.

 

[I7guy]

Estimates and Cook's boasting are not HARD NUMBERS.
I can estimate that my personal net worth is in the millions but sans my bank book you have no way of knowing if that statement is true. You said specifically that "By the numbers Apple Watch is a success". I'm saying we have no way of knowing that without hard numbers.

Don't get me wrong I do believe that Apple Watch is a success - I see it all the time in emergency rooms and at my doctor's. I just wish they wouldn't hide it in the "Other" category.

The Numbers are estimates. I never claimed they were accurate to the exact unit. But in the world of estimates can you find some evidence that contradicts that assertion?

 

[omihek]

The watch is a piece of junk. If this is the only new product that Cook's tenure has presented then that pretty much underlines exactly how limiting his tenure has been for AAPL. After all, this is the guy who reintroduced stock dividends.

Millions of happy customers would disagree with you.

 

[citysnaps]

Don't get me wrong I do believe that Apple Watch is a success - I see it all the time in emergency rooms and at my doctor's. I just wish they wouldn't hide it in the "Other" category.

Genuinely curious... Why does it bother you so much that Apple chooses to put Watch sales in "Other?" Sounds like a smart move to me, for competitive reasons. Ditto with AirPods.

But personally, however Apple chooses to reveal or hide Watch sales numbers makes absolutely no difference to me, and I could not care less on which way they go about it.