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

[citysnaps]

Apple charges what they can get away with and hardly properly priced from a consumer point of view.
You don't get to be a trillion dollar company without being totally ruthless.

Properly priced? Consumers? Are you speaking of the 200+ million repeat satisfied consumers who purchase priced-right outstanding Apple products year after year after year?

Or the couple of dozen never-happy who hang out tech forums without the benefit of a decent paying job to pay for what the above 200+ million routinely purchase?

 

[avkills]

Nope, it wont sell like hitcakes. BFUs want mac and want it as cheap as possible, thats why macbook air is best selling mac... and BFUs creates market

I bet it would sell more than you think. There are a lot of people that build their own computers; other wise ASUS, Gigabit, and similar companies would not be around. Because Apple has never touched that market segment does not mean it would not be successful. Of course it goes against everything they stand for right now; but with the cash hoard they have in the bank, take a ****ing risk. They can afford it if it flops; and it isn't like it would take that much R&D to pull off.

Also the hackintosh community is growing.

 

[aristobrat]

Tim Cook Says Apple's $1 Trillion Value is a 'Significant Milestone' But 'Not the Most Important Measure of Success' in Employee Memo I think your stock holders would tend to disagree with you timmy.

Any Apple stockholder that understands the company realizes that most of Timmy's troops don't work with the direct goal of increasings the company's valuation. So let Timmy rally his troops with the words that get them fired up, which will result in more of what the stockholders want.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Also the hackintosh community is growing.

And the comps run circles around regular Macs for a fraction of the price.

 

[oldmacs]

That seems a bit harsh. It's not like they're misrepresenting what they sell. They plainly describe all the key components in their product listings. I'd say it's even a stretch to call technology that's readily available and still functional "outdated" -- maybe not cutting edge, but that's not the same thing. Really, who needs the fastest processors to read may, browse the web or watch TV? Walk through any department store and you'll see all kinds of technology that isn't cutting edge but works and sells just fine.

Not harsh at all. Apple gives crap software support to Macs, and usually that means 7 or so years. The Mac mini is already 4 years into it. How is it at all responsible for Apple to sell machines more than halfway through their support life at expensive price points? The iPad mini is even worse. How many more updates will it get? One max?

Apple is a premium brand and if you go and buy an Apple product you should be able to expect that what you are buying is relatively current and will get good support.

They got this large by selling products that people buy. Many on this forum don't want to admit it because they want something else that no one makes for them, but that's not Apple's responsibility. It's ok to want more, but no one is obligated to make it for you.

They got this large by ripping people off (partially) Apple have a reputation for quality long lasting products. Cook era Apple have taken advantage of this by selling outdated machines way too long.

Given Apple's song and dance over environmental responsibility, they should be ensuring whatever they sell will last. And that means not selling outdated devices. They have the money to spec bump their range yearly so they should be doing that.

 

[fathergll]

Why are you concerned about the Mac Mini? It is supposed to be the least capable and the worst of all the Macs. It was created just to lure people from Windows.

Almost everything a Mac Mini can do, you can do with a more expensive Mac.

The Mac Mini is the only standalone desktop option from Apple. Thats the issue. Apple gimped it even more from 2012 to 2014 when they removed the quad core chip option and then soldered the ram in.

 

[oldmacs]

And since it's so bad, why still buy Apple products?

Some of us have used Apple products for a very long time, are deeply rooted in the ecosystem and still prefer MacOS and iOS to the competition. We are allowed to be dissatisfied with aspects of today's Apple.

You have no evidence about who is happy or not happy with Apple.

 

[blacktape242]

innovation? or wait, you mean more expensive products...

 

[toomuchsmart]

Very true that people dont like change, but if things were as grim as some make them out to be the customer satisfaction scores wouldn't be nearly as high as they are.

True, some people are certainly making things seems much worse than they are.

I think it comes down to being afraid of Apple going too far astray and going off the rails. Certainly easier to correct course early. Personally, I just don't want the one good option to go away!

 

[noupf]

Some of us have used Apple products for a very long time, are deeply rooted in the ecosystem and still prefer MacOS and iOS to the competition. We are allowed to be dissatisfied with aspects of today's Apple.

You have no evidence about who is happy or not happy with Apple.

im pretty sure there is evidence of who is happy or unhappy with apple and its products.

Polls and surveys........and the ones i've seen are in the mid 90's in terms of percentage of customers who are happy with their apple products and overall satisfaction with said comapny.

 

[hans1972]

Likewise, just because you are happy with Apples decisions, doesn't mean to majority do.
93% Satisfaction.. which includes mums, students, and all kinds of users, like my 8 year old cousin. She's happy with her angry birds - so; so are her parents.

I was talking about professionals and legacy Apple users. And no, I'm not alone. Scour these forums for feedback and discussions regarding Apples decisions (it's the search feature in the top right of the webpage).

To shut down my perspective is to shut down half of MacRumors. That something you can do successfully with your sassiness boo?

If 93% of Apple customers are happy, then a large majority are happy.

So the question is, should Apple cater to the large majority of its happy users or to the tiny majority of unhappy customers?

If you look at these forums the most* unhappy Mac users are:
* Mac Mini users
* Mac Pro users
* Those who want to replace parts themselves

And there seems to be a big overlap between these groups also.

If you look closely at these groups you will find something in common: What they want is something that will allow them access to macOS but also give a little as money as possible to Apple, since Apple is usually more expensive.

Mac Mini: With a four or six core CPU, replaceable SSD and RAM, it is quite a capable computer that competes well with iMac, MacBook Pro, iMac Pro and even Mac Pro for some kind of uses. Monitor, keyboard, mouse, more RAM, bigger SSD is bought from a third party, and being used for years, giving Apple very little money.

Mac Pro: Buying one of the cheapest configuration and upgrading GPU, disk and SSDs, and RAM from third parties. Keeping it for up to 8-10 years. Again giving very little money to Apple.

Replace stuff yourself: Buying from third party to upgrade the computer or repairing it yourself. Both scenarios allows you to keep the machine for a much longer time, giving less money to Apple.

So what some of you want is for Apple to create machines that allows the customer to give very little money to Apple over long periods of time. Why would Apple do that?

*I have skipped all those who loves USB-A ports
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No.

They buy into Apple now because they've invested a lot into it. Hard to pull out now after all these years. Apple's got everyone by their balls.

"Next I'd like to talk about the Mac. We were very happy to see double-digit year over year growth in our active installed base of Macs, to a new all-time high, with nearly 60% of purchases during the quarter coming from customers who are new to Mac." -Tim Cook

A majority of people buying Macs are new users Seems to contradict your assertion.
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The Mac Mini is the only standalone desktop option from Apple. Thats the issue. Apple gimped it even more from 2012 to 2014 when they removed the quad core chip option and then soldered the ram in.

Yes, but you can use another more expensive Mac to solve most of the problems you solve with a Mac Mini. It is just going to cost you more money.

Also you forgot the Mac Pro, which is also a standalone desktop.

 

[Doug_in_the_UK]

Apple today reached a major milestone and became the first publicly listed U.S. company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization. Following the news, Apple CEO Tim Cook, who did not comment publicly on the occasion, sent out a memo to employees, which was shared by Buzzfeed.

In the memo, Cook said that while the valuation is a "significant milestone" that the company should be proud of, it's not the most important measure of Apple's success. He instead thanked employees and said that it's their hard work and refusal to settle for less that makes Apple great.With a closing stock price of $207.39 following arecord breaking Q3 earnings report on Tuesday and a total of 4,829,926,000 outstanding shares as of July 20, Apple successfully beat Amazon, Microsoft, and Google parent company Alphabet to a $1 trillion valuation.

Apple is set to have yet another strong quarter with the 2018 iPhones, new iPad Pros, new Apple Watch models, and new Macs on the horizon.

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

Show some respect to your loyal customers by lowering the prices of your computers. £1,749 UK for an iMac? What a rip-off. Once this ageing Mac of mine conks out, that is it, I will not buy another Mac at such ridiculous prices.

 

[norbinhouston]

Demonstrably people still do buy small desktop machines like the mini though, obviously laptops are more popular. I never mentioned wanting an upgradable machine. If 3rd parties can sell an identical MB for less than $1000, then Apple are ripping off customers shopping in their own stores.

Do those companies also give you software free? Supported software. Like free cloud and all device syncing? Doubt it.

 

[DanBig]

Now Tim, can we really get the upper end pro gear people are waiting for. A thicker MacBook Pro with the i9 getting all the cooling it needs, Ports (USBA, Ethernet & SD), MagSafe type of connection intergraded in. Now make a 15" & 17" and we'l be set for a few more years!

Where is the MIA Mac Pro?? It better offer what the real pro's need not watered down like the MacBook Pro is now.

 

[stuart71]

Who would you like as the CEO of Apple? Someone like John Sculley perhaps? Like it or not, Tim has continued the success that Steve Jobs was known for creating within Apple. I'm not sure that just anyone could pull that off. And wasn't it Steve himself that chose Tim as his successor? If everyone on this forum really idolizes Steve as much as they claim to, maybe you should respect his last act as CEO, trusting Tim to take the helm.

Indeed it was actually Tim who made the company so profitable when he was responsible for supply chain, some people have no clue and comment BS!!! Hence why they were saying apple should buyout Tesla.....

 

[Jodeo]

"...new Macs on the horizon."
Of which planet?

 

[Greymacuser]

What self-congratulatory blather.
Kook took a computer company and turned it into a phone and watch company. He abandoned Apple's core user base that carried it through the harder years and insulted them by keeping the prices at gourmet caviar levels.
This repelled potential future computer buyers, hence why actual computer sales have plummeted.
He made Apple a lot of cash by abandoning what Apple Computer was originally supposed to be.
A computer company.
Now all they make are glitzed up iToys. If that is what he sees the company as being truly about, then he should just shut down the desktop, laptop and Mac OS departments and just devote everything to the gee-gaws and glitter and stop stringing actual computer users along.

 

[Jodeo]

Where's that PhotoShopped picture of Phil Schiller holding a larger-than-life iPad from a few years ago? It looked like a 24" model and was pretty funny.

 

[mikethemartian]

As a cool side story, the first trillion dollar company is from hundreds of years ago (albeit non U.S. based)

The Dutch East India Company would be the first trillion dollar company, by a long shot. In today’s value it was worth $7.4 Trillion at its peak.

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends...n-would-be-worth-over-7-trillion-today-15654/

If someone’s thinking “but they failed”, I’d wager Apple won’t be around in a couple hundred years either.

Side note: this website Sovereign Man is absolutely brilliant for financial education and insight, a topic severely lacking today (probably on purpose)

Reminds me of James Clavell’s Shogun.

 

[TaviDuprix]

I really can’t stand this man.

On what premise? He is kind and he has led Apple to amazing growth.

 

[CaTOAGU]

It seems to me that every Mac Mini user out there is also a Macrumors forum member.

Why did you choose a Mac that does not fit in Steve Jobs quadrant and why do you want the Mac that is supposed to be the weakest and least capable of all the Macs?

It was created to entice people to switch from Windows. If you already are a Mac user you should upgrade to a more expensive Mac.

I don't use one anymore but my fiancé does, it's perfect for her needs. I also want them to update it because I care about the product line, they're what got me into Apple and many others look to the Mac Mini to meet their needs too.
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Do those companies also give you software free? Supported software. Like free cloud and all device syncing? Doubt it.

The software etc isn't free, software development costs are calculated and included in the price, same goes for cloud services and support. The equivalent category computer from Intel for example is much cheaper than the Mac Mini and also much smaller.

 

[TaviDuprix]

For a consumer to celebrate this it does seem a bit weird.
Feels a bit like my boss paying me a poor wage, then ME celebrating him when he makes record profits.

Surely as a condumer, on in my example an employee me getting more and the company getting a bit less would be what I as a rational individual should want?

A bit like roses for £10 a bunch, then on mother's Day the seller ramps the price up to £30 as they know there is a demand, then me as a buyer congradulating them on charging me more.

It's odd.

Not an appropriate comparison as roses are always roses. Each iteration of Apple products and software are an improvement on the version that came before. Therefore, pricing fluctuates based upon more factors than supply and demand or the need to offset other expenditures. Furthermore, I am not sure where the poor wage comes into the line of thinking unless you are one of the people bellyaching over the fact that Apple doesn't have a cutting edge gaming PC or some other derivative to complain about the Mac.

 

[Ds6778]

Nothing groundbreaking here. A logistics guy relying on Apples brand name , releasing rehashed iterations of old products at a higher price and fewer innovative products that truly resonate with people. It's sad but Steve put the products and people first and profit came last. Tim is the antithesis of that.

 

[Naraxus]

For whatever reason, Apple consumers still buy their devices. Total mystery to me..

The last Mac I bought was the 2013 MBA. It's a pretty decent machine even after five years. To my mind that's the last good Mac laptop Apple's made.

 

[lkrupp]

Now Tim, can we really get the upper end pro gear people are waiting for. A thicker MacBook Pro with the i9 getting all the cooling it needs, Ports (USBA, Ethernet & SD), MagSafe type of connection intergraded in. Now make a 15" & 17" and we'l be set for a few more years!

Where is the MIA Mac Pro?? It better offer what the real pro's need not watered down like the MacBook Pro is now.

Sorry Dan, we are discontinuing the Mac line. It will be announced this afternoon. Good luck and best wishes.

Tim