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Apple Says Profits Were Flat, Citing Slump In China (nytimes.com)

Due to an economic slowdown in China and diminishing demand for new iPhones, Apple's profits in its most recent quarter were flat compared with a year earlier. "The disappointing financial performance had been expected since Jan. 2, when Apple, for the first time in 16 years, revised its forecast for the quarter," reports The New York Times. "But the announcement on Tuesday indicates a difficult road head for Apple, which just five months ago became the first company to be worth more than $1 trillion. The company said it expected between $55 billion and $59 billion in revenue in the current quarter, just below analysts' expectations for $59 billion. Apple's earnings per share were $4.18, beating analysts' expectations by a penny."

In addition to the quarterly earnings, Apple reported revenue of $84.3 billion, a decline of 5 percent from one year ago. "Revenue from iPhone declined 15 percent from the prior year, while total revenue from all other products and services grew 19 percent," Apple said in a press release. Analysts had estimated revenue of $83.97 billion and earnings of $4.17 per share. "While it was disappointing to miss our revenue guidance, we manage Apple for the long term, and this quarter's results demonstrate that the underlying strength of our business runs deep and wide," said Tim Cook. Apple's active install base of 1.4 billion is "a great testament to the satisfaction and loyalty of our customers, and it's driving our services business to new records thanks to our large and fast-growing ecosystem," Cook said. The Verge adds: "iPhones account for 900 million of those devices. iPad revenues were up 17 percent against the year-ago quarter; Mac was up 9 percent; and Wearables/Home/Accessories were up by 33 percent."

80 comments

  1. Doomed by io333 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Only 80 billion dollars in the months?

    It's over.

    1. Re:Doomed by Spy+Handler · · Score: 4, Funny

      And their cash horde is only $245 billion now.

      It was $237 billion last quarter, and the only managed to add a measly $7 billion to it during this latest quarter.

      Apple is obviously doomed, they are a failing company.

    2. Re:Doomed by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, it's their second most profitable quarter ever, second only to their year-ago quarter, which was the most profitable quarter in history, not just for Apple, but for any company ever.

      Doomed!

      If only we could all be doomed so successfully...

      Sarcasm aside, they actually are doomed in the grand scheme of things, the same as Sears was doomed 50 years ago. This may be what we look back on in 10 or 20 years and say was "peak Apple", but it's hard to say anything with certainty now.

    3. Re:Doomed by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      And their cash horde is only $245 billion now.

      You can get a lot of Mongol warriors for that!

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    4. Re:Doomed by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Well they were, it seems they have pulled their thumb out and are developing new products and properly evaluating existing ones and obviously looking to expand muchly in the OS space as in iOS vs M$ vs Android.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    5. Re: Doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you paid a penny a post to write fake news about trump? You would have wnough to pay rent and buy a bunch of weed.

    6. Re: Doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Inner Mongolia, the warriors buy YOU.

    7. Re:Doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Despite being only able to build laptops that break when the lid is opened, keyboards that stop working when encountering a crumb and computers that can't compute without overheating, not to mention allowing bugs to slip through that allow root login with blank passwords or anyone to activate your phone's camera and microphone, in spite of all this, people keep buying Apple products.

      I think that it is humanity that is doomed.

    8. Re:Doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Dont forget their growing debt. I realise with all those shaking pompoms you might forget that.

    9. Re: Doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How much weed are we talking about here? Asking for a friend.

    10. Re:Doomed by saloomy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not humanity, just the rest of the tech sector.

      You can not name another tech product with similar success that has fared better security-wise than Apple has. Windows security is a joke, barely held together by daily updates that fix what the previous update broke. Android is a walking advertiser's dream. Linux has yet to become meaningful on the desktop.

      Apple at least are still updating to current code-base phones from 5 years ago. Are there bugs? Yes. Do they fix them? Yes. At least you aren't abandoned by the carrier, the manufacturer, and google all deciding it's time for you to get an update.

      Chromebooks maybe?

    11. Re:Doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only 80 billion dollars in the months?

      It's over.

      Fishing expeditions aren't cheap.

    12. Re:Doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only that, their profit was just 0.5% (100 million / 20 billion) from being their best quarter ever in terms of profit (not revenue). Per-share it was their best (because they've been buying up their shares). Everybody focuses on the iPhone but their other divisions are doing very well and compensate the reduced sales of iPhone. Whether this is sustainable will be seen. Their installed base is still growing (i.e. the number of devices retired was less than the new sales) and perhaps will continue to do so for a while as phones have a longer useful life.

    13. Re:Doomed by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      It seems like they have reached peak iPhone maybe. Question is where do they go next. They are still updating their laptops, but workstations have been mostly abandoned. The tablet market is saturated, some recent filings seem to show they are looking to do low cost iPads for some markets. Their automotive project seems to have been wound down.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    14. Re:Doomed by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Eh, shuffling 200 people (reports said “laid off” in the headlines, but then said they would be moved within the company, which isn’t what a layoff is) off a multi-thousand person project isn’t exactly winding down to me, especially considering they just promoted a new guy to be over it. Sounds more like a restructuring to better fit the new guy’s preferred approach.

      But yeah, their current markets are basically saturated. It’s a question now of whether or not they can figure out what’s next and reinvent the company once again or not.

    15. Re:Doomed by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it's their second most profitable quarter ever, second only to their year-ago quarter, which was the most profitable quarter in history, not just for Apple, but for any company ever.

      Doomed!

      If only we could all be doomed so successfully...

      Sarcasm aside, they actually are doomed in the grand scheme of things, the same as Sears was doomed 50 years ago. This may be what we look back on in 10 or 20 years and say was "peak Apple", but it's hard to say anything with certainty now.

      And I predicted this years ago.

      Apple's growth was entirely due to the fact there were markets they hadn't entered yet like China. Smartphones matured years ago, there aren't any more big leaps to make, no revolutions to be had even though Apple are still playing catchup to Android. Because phones are mature people are replacing them less frequently. Most of the people I know with Iphones are still using old ones, 4's 5's and 6's. They'll keep them until they die because they are good enough and none of them is willing to drop £1000 on a phone.

      When the 4 was released, it was discovered that 4 out of every 5 purchases was replacing an earlier model, I wouldn't be surprised to find that this was now 7 out of 8.

      There is also nothing special about them any more. Even someone on benefits can get one these days. To the average person, there's no difference between Android and IOS, hell they don't even know what the two are because to them, it's just a phone. Apple falling out of fashion means that they'll go back to just buying "a phone" regardless of if it's Samsung, Apple, Nokia or Huawei. Most people who have an Apple phone are not rabid fanboys... same with Android phones, most people couldn't care less.

      So really for Apple this is a bad time because they've realised their in a perfect storm of not being special, lack of customer loyalty, stupid pricing and technological maturity that no marketing can quell.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    16. Re: Doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lots of words; no basis in reality. Apple just had its second best quarter of all time.

    17. Re:Doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guarantee some at Wall Street will still bow out now.and short the stock... Bunch of vultures...

    18. Re:Doomed by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Predicting that a market would become saturated isn't remarkable in the least. It's been a foregone conclusion ever since it became clear that smartphones were replacing dumb phones. Predicting when, however? Kudos to you if you were accurately predicting this timing as far back as the iPhone 4. That said, I think you may be a bit off when it comes to your notion that consumers see no difference between iOS and Android, and that's true regardless of which platform you favor.

      Both iOS and Android have retention rates around or above 90%, suggesting that consumers are very loyal to (or locked in by, depending on your views) their platform of choice. If the number of differentiating factors was decreasing, as you suggest, we would expect to see a drop-off in retention rates, but instead what we've been seeing these last few years is an increase for both platforms. Contrary to your notion that each side is nothing special, it would seem that people have chosen their platforms and most of them can't see themselves switching.

  2. Gley shift by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    gley shift make velly many coppy-cat!

  3. Time to sell User Data by ghoul · · Score: 0

    Apple needs to get off its ass and monetize all the user data they have. Google and facebook have been pretty successfull at it. Tim your responsibility is to your shareholders not your users.

    --
    **Life is too short to be serious**
    1. Re: Time to sell User Data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmmm... how much per share? 4.17? Is that a lot? Feel free to chime in.

    2. Re: Time to sell User Data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not all that important except for crystal ball types. Anyway earnings number is manipulated for the quarterly investor show. Better off watching other metrics. You can ignore EPS and PE it is for suckers.

    3. Re:Time to sell User Data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eat shit.

    4. Re:Time to sell User Data by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 2

      Definitely not. By focussing on privacy they are differentiating themselves from Google, Facebook, and all of the others.

      What they need to do is stop the strong focus on the iPhone. They had a huge lead in certain markets such as graphics design with their computers but they've completely lost it by not updating their Mac Pro line in years. Apple needs to really focus on their computer lines again, especially the Pro desktop. It would be great if they did something unique such as using their own CPUs in a desktop. They have experience transitioning platforms pretty smoothly (from PowerPC to Intel) and they could easily do it again. People will come back if Apple shows that they will stay focussed on the line. It will also help balance the revenue and stop it being so dependent on one product.

      The other big thing they need to do is to break the releases of the iPhone and iOS. It's creating a period of a few months each year where the developers are racing to fix bugs because iOS was released too early in order to meet the schedule of the iPhone. Apple should break out a small group from the iOS developers and have them implement the functionality required for the new phones. This would be released as an update to the current release. Then the next release of iOS would get released when it was ready to go out. It's better for the users and much better for the developers.

    5. Re:Time to sell User Data by saloomy · · Score: 1

      No. Keeping user-data private is probably wining more hardware sales for them than the revenue garnered by user-data. Anyone who values their privacy at all goes Apple. It's not even up for debate with them. Tim does a great job there. Apple is not in the business of selling user data or access to anything by anyone not the user. Their balance sheet reflects that.

    6. Re:Time to sell User Data by ghoul · · Score: 1

      What you are suggesting would have developers scrambling twice a year - once for the hardware update and once for the OS update. The way its done now is better. Actually most people are keeping phones for 2 years so maybe they can move to releasing a flagship model every 2 years along with a well tested OS. the intervening year can be used to release cut price models with crippled functionality.

      --
      **Life is too short to be serious**
    7. Re:Time to sell User Data by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      The stock market won't let them release a high-end model every two years. If you read carefully what I suggested there wouldn't be a huge rush for the iOS feature update because I said that they would release it when it was ready. They could announce it for release in a particular quarter when they were getting nearly done and then as they were completing items start narrowing down the release date always with the provision that if testing found something it could lead to delays. Apple could still announce the new iOS with the phones but say it will ship when it's ready.

      Only the team that was updating iOS with changes to deal with new hardware changes and features would have the hard deadline. However that's a much smaller number of changes, mostly device drivers. Many of the things announced are features of iOS. I'm proposing just making that iOS can interface with the new camera and any new hardware. If Apple want's to take advantage of any new features of the camera then they wait until the feature release gets sent out later on. Just focus on getting the new phones out into the wild and working.

  4. Sounds kinky but no thanks... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: Too kinky for me & you project your own "issues" that way you know Mr. UNIDENTIFIABLE ANONYMOUSdamus troll, lol!

    APK

    P.S.=> Anyhow - there ya are... apk

  5. Yup, pack it all in by alvinrod · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.

  6. Don't blame china by Revek · · Score: 1, Funny

    Blame way overpriced flagshit devices. That was a typo but I think it plays. Does it play?

    1. Re:Don't blame china by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Blame way overpriced flagshit devices. That was a typo but I think it plays. Does it play?

      You don't know how this works.

      Never, ever, associate any negative event with anything plausibly under your control. What PR people say has nothing to do with truth.

      Never, ever, go back on a decision if you can blame anything external. You are management. Everyone knows management is always right. The day people stop believing that is the day you pull that silken ripcord on your golden parachute.

    2. Re: Don't blame china by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A long time ago a venture capitalist told me ever ever sell a product for less than 5 times the cost of manufacture. It was good advice. Most money goes into marketing and distribution costs.

  7. Couldn't have anything to do with price increases by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Sure, they increased the price of every single new iPhone, but I'm sure it was exclusively China and the Trade War that imposed zero tariffs on Apple products that is to blame (in fairness, China is very anti-US, and specifically pro-Chinese, especially when the US is actively anti-China).

    It cannot have anything to do with the iPhone XR starting at $699 USD, iPhone XS starting at $999 USD, or the iPhone XS Max starting at $1099 USD. Given that the iPhone 8 -- the same tier as the iPhone XR -- was itself raised $50 to $649 USD from $599 USD for the iPhone 7, that's a lot of increases in a very short amount of time with no real justification beyond shortsighted greed. And now Tim Cook and Co are reaping the rewards -- massive profits on smaller unit sales because they aren't packing enough into the more expensive units to justify their price, which is the literally the first lesson in pricing yourself out of a market.

    People in the US are not excited to pay those prices. I have zero reason to upgrade to an iPhone XS from my iPhone 8 beyond a nicer screen and modestly nicer camera, and the iPhone XR is just more money for the same phone with a faster processor.

    In past years I was a pretty consistent 2 year cycle upgrader because I enjoyed the performance boost and camera improvements, but Google has taken the lead on software-based camera improvements without adding seven trillion lenses onto the back of the phone. I suspect that Apple will pump out a crappy iPhone XI this year that will be a modest bump over the iPhone XS, for $999 USD, possibly with USB-C (like the iPad Pro thankfully -- finally -- conformed to using!) and a third lens (or maybe they'll just put that on the "Max" variant for an extra $100 USD).

    I will only upgrade if they can compete with Google's camera quality, particularly in dark shots. Otherwise I'm going to hold out until my iPhone 8 is on death's door because I have no interest in paying for a computer to get a phone, regardless of the merits of the processor. I don't want 2 or more lenses, I want software Google's Pixel camera at the price of a Google Pixel phone.

    Amusingly the deepest tether keeping me on iOS is my Apple Watch. It feels amazing compared to every other smartwatch that I've tested and it only works with iOS. I think that Apple is going to have to try to open up future Apple Watch models to Android to get deeper market penetration, like they did with Apple Music, and I will get a Google Pixel if they ever make that leap.

  8. How to fix a company when products sales slow by AHuxley · · Score: 0

    People buying $300 products in China and not the expected $1200 designed product?
    People buying $500 to $1000 South Korean products and from brands in China?

    Who in the free West would have expected Communist enforced patriotism to be so strong?

    That China could alter the social credit score on what smart phone brand a person was reported as using?
    Who wants to risk their social credit on the wrong smart phone brand?
    That people have the freedom to select an amazing South Korean smart phone with more features?
    A much better design from Taiwan for $800?
    That a factory in Communist China would make a smart phone for $300 and accept that sale price to build its own export brand?
    Innovative ways to not need a notch?

    If only the desktop market had an advanced GPU and CPU ready product to be productive and game on?
    Something new to sell to make a profit as a $1200 smart phone use becomes a brand from innovative South Korea and low price China?
    Is the desktop OS ready for hours of 5K and 8K games and supportive of the needed GPU hardware?
    Rather than just making the art and music for 5K and 8K games?

    More ads in the browser?
    Make the US gov pay per user for full PRISM like access?
    Become a movie company with great new movies to rent?
    Find ways to ensure people buy a new smart phone sooner?
    Make repair work a sin?

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  9. Not here yet by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    You say peak smartphone is here, but what makes you think that? I don't see any sign that demand for smartphones is in any way lacking or declining. It only increases...

    So he asks me things like "well, should I move into the browser coding area next?" &/or other areas of interest he has there to help PRESERVE his career

    Learning Swift is still a career forward move and builds on the strong base he already has, even more-so is learning Python and Tensorflow. Even if it just wanted to stay at Apple that would be worthwhile...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Not here yet by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      I don't see any sign that demand for smartphones is in any way lacking or declining.

      Then you aren't paying attention. We hit peak smartphone in 2017. Unit sales in 2018 were slightly lower.

      There are 5.5B adults on the planet, and 4B of them already have smartphones. Nearly all sales are replacements and upgrades, not new users. Most phones are in service for 3 years or more, and that is increasing.

    2. Re:Not here yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You say peak smartphone is here, but what makes you think that? I don't see any sign that demand for smartphones is in any way lacking or declining.

      Well iPhone revenue has declined 15% and that is despite a significant increase in the unit price so the sales (which they now don't report) have taken a massive nosedive. There is a real lack of innovation, nobody except the diehard cheering fanboys is interested in garbage like putting your face on an animated piece of shit, the fanboys will love it and throw money at them for that nonsense but it's clear that others won't. There is nothing at all compelling or innovative to even consider upgrading from the years old iPhone 6 to the more recent device unless it falls apart.

  10. More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Look, you set the price too high. Just shift the price lower on the curve, and you can maximize your profit.

    In a time when you're flooding the market with $1000 phones, reconsider your original $500 price point. You'll see that unit sales of the $800 version are ok, and the $500 model is doing very well, so you know you need to fire your marketing and sales teams who skipped out on basic accounting and economics classes.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by tliet · · Score: 1

      So, people wanting to get an iPhone at a lesser price point still can. It's not called the XS or XR, but you can get a perfectly serviceable iPhone 7 with 128 Gb storage for half of proverbial $1000 ($549) and $50 bucks more gets you an iPhone 8 with 64 Gb storage which is enough for most tasks.

    2. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yo, genius, Apple phones have a finite lifetime because (a) OS updates only run for so many years and (b) the later OS updates include more and more unwanted fecal matter (e.g., animated bitmojis) which take up RAM and mean that applications need to swap more, which slows down the phones quite a lot.

      Buying an iPhone 7 makes no sense if you plan to use it more than a year or so. The iPhone 6 (which is still supported) has only 1GB of RAM and is now dog slow. The iPhone 7 has 2GB of RAM. The current iPhone has 4GB of RAM.

      Unless you plan to break your phone before it becomes obsolete the relevant question is what does the newest iPhone cost and that cost has gone to obscene levels particularly since iPhones no longer have the best hardware and competing phones are even cheaper than they used to be.

    3. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem here is that Apple also sells to the corporate market. Companies distribute iPhones and apps to employees. They're willing to pay absurd prices for reliability, security, stability, and productivity.

      The average consumer can't. There'll will always be the upper crust that can afford it, but everyone else buys Android.

    4. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps OS updates only run for so many years. While they don't promise anything, they still seem to try to make their phones last a long time. In the long run, it makes customers happy and they will come back. It also allows the installed base to increase.

      At any rate, I have an iPhone 6S and am still happy with it. The last OS update actually improved performance.

    5. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yo, genius, Apple phones have a finite lifetime because (a) OS updates only run for so many years and (b) the later OS updates include more and more unwanted fecal matter (e.g., animated bitmojis) which take up RAM and mean that applications need to swap more, which slows down the phones quite a lot.

      But but but... animated Feces is the main reason people buy iPhones these days... As you know, Apple has "re-invented" "re-engineered" "re-defined" what the "smartphone" is... and most people swear by that definition today... MY definition of a smartphone is the cosmo communicator... but then again... my first smartphone was a nokia phone that was had actual usefull features

    6. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The iPhone is an aspirational product. It has to be expensive or it wouldn't be so desirable.

      That's the problem they have in China. Too many refurb and hand-me-down iPhones flooding the market, industrial scale recycling going on. The iPhone has gone from expensive status symbol to poor person's phone, or the default choice of the technologically clueless elders. All the cool kids moved on to Xaomi and other domestic brands.

      They keep the latest models expensive, but they look too similar to the old ones and when people see you using one they tend to just assume it's a refurb/cast-off from someone richer.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The iPhone is an aspirational product. It has to be expensive or it wouldn't be so desirable.

      Nearly a billion people have iPhones, if you think it's an aspirational product then you're just not paying attention.

    8. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by TFlan91 · · Score: 1

      The iPhone is an aspirational product. It has to be expensive or it wouldn't be so desirable.

      Nearly a billion people have iPhones, if you think it's an aspirational product then you're just not paying attention.

      How long do you think it will take before what s/he wrote sinks in...

      I'll help... Why do you think nearly a billion people have iPhones?

    9. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1

      So here's something to consider about Apple's phones: while the prices have recently increased, their gross margins are exactly the same, around 38%. You can argue that that's an unreasonably high margin, certainly, but the amount of money they're trying to get back for the amount of money they're putting in hasn't changed very much over the years.

      Of course, it's impossible to ignore that Apple is a Veblen good. The high price implies quality, regardless of whether or not that's true. People that are affluent or aspire to be affluent look at iPhones as aspirational goods. Part of the reason why sales dipped in China is because this year's most expensive iPhone didn't look that much different from last year's. In general, Chinese people are more wealth/status conscious, and more conspicuous about how they display it. If you're going to buy an expensive phone, why not buy the top-end Huawei, since it looks different and ALSO costs a lot of money? (OS ecosystems matter less in China; WeChat is the REAL ecosystem, it's multi-platform, and the lock-in effect is considerably reduced.)

      I wouldn't throw stones at Apple's marketing and accounting teams just yet. It was a hard year for a lot of companies in China, and Apple is still making money hand over fist. Certainly don't fire anyone over one 'bad' quarter. One quarter is an outlier, two quarters may be a coincidence, and three quarters is a trend. That's when you can start flinging some blame around.

    10. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      The market doesn't owe them a premium. Markets don't care about what you "expect". They just are.

      Personal computers, like my original Apple II+, used to cost $4000. Nowadays you can get a high powered laptop for around $150.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    11. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1

      You're right, the market owes them nothing. But the market continues to give them profits. Despite all the hue and cry over Apple's guidance correction, this was their second best quarter ever, which means it was also the second best quarter for any company, of all time, ever.

      Basically, I don't think things are so simple as just 'lower the price'. It might undermine the perception of them as a luxury brand, and then we might REALLY see a downward spiral. Or maybe it would work, who knows? I don't think the answer is either of us, and until Apple starts having quarters that don't dwarf everyone else's, I don't think it's sensible to cast blame.

    12. Re:More like jacked up prices alter supply/demand by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      Quarterly results are frequently fudged, using invalid booking dates on inventory, counting units sold when they were only received at a retail store and not booking returns until the next quarter. Most people realize this can be true, and tend to use year over year metrics instead.

      Markets react to information, but perception can be slightly altered through such tricks. Eventually the market participants catch on and adjust, of course.

      One quarter is not a trend. Three quarters might be a trend.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  11. High Quality. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Huawei will be the winner!
    Apple, the loser!

  12. India shows that Apple made a big mistake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The problem with his comments is that they don't make sense when you look at how Apple got it's butt kicked in India. India is an untapped market; 2018 had 150M phones sold and over 1B people live there. But the market is not made for US$1,000 phones; it needs a product that fits India appropriately. Xiaomi launched a budget phone and a premium phone that cost in US$420 and they owned the market there.

    Apple needs to get out of the Western world way of thinking and Western world prices. THe growth markets are India, China, and much of Southeast Asia (655M people across 11 countries), but their markets don't have room for a $1,000 phone.

    1. Re:India shows that Apple made a big mistake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Most of the people in India (like China) are poor. The median annual income in India is $616 USD. The majority of the population lives on less than $4 a day. The phones that do well are feature phones, which Apple doesn't make. To put the poverty in perspective, most of the people that have a feature phone don't have access to a toilet at home.

      Apple focuses on selling to the middle class in India, which is about 30 million people or 2% of the population. That said, they cannot compete with Chinese brands that sell smart phones with comparable features for half the price of an iPhone.

    2. Re:India shows that Apple made a big mistake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I should quantify the middle class size. It is based on wealth (vs income), which is a better measurement to gauge spending habits since unemployment, even temporary, can cause people to drop into poverty.

    3. Re: India shows that Apple made a big mistake by backslashdot · · Score: 1

      Would you rather profit $1 each off a million people and have to deal with all their petty support issues?

      Or profit $100 off 10,000?

    4. Re: India shows that Apple made a big mistake by mridoni · · Score: 1

      Would you rather profit $1 each off a million people and have to deal with all their petty support issues?

      Or profit $100 off 10,000?

      That's fine, until you consider that a portion of those 990,000 possible customers you decided not to pursue would also have bought apps, subscriptions and services. Of course your reasoning still makes sense, but the walled-garden-model, with its hefty fees for any sale, tends to move the break-even point around.

    5. Re:India shows that Apple made a big mistake by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      To put the poverty in perspective, most of the people that have a feature phone don't have access to a toilet at home.

      Advance 54 metres ... turn right ... after 20 metres, you may shit.

      Imagine the market for an app that did that!

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  13. More like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    lack of innovation

  14. Features by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I guess Apple prefer to externalize, and that's unfortunate.

    If Apple were to internalize, they might realize that, for the past few years, they have been adding new features to the iPhone that people aren't really all that interested in. For example, a screen that covers the whole face of the phone, OLED screen that you have to run dark-mode on so you don't rip through your battery, animojie, AR/VR, and an inferior Intel radio.

    At the same time, they have been removing features that people liked. For example, headphone jack, home button, thumbprint reader, and superior Qualcom radio.

    As they're doing this, the phone's price is continuing to climb.

    It's Apple's fault. Not China. Not Trump. They should do what Microsoft did with Vista when they knew they'd fucked up... Forget about new features. Go back and fix everything people hate and come out with the "Windows 7" of iPhones. The one everyone wanted in the first place with all the features they like and none of the features they hate or don't care about.

    THIS is why people are worried about Apple going down hill. Until they're honest about why they had a bad year, they can't fix the real problems that caused it. Is anyone going to tell Tim? Or is it" The Emperor's New Clothes" over there at Apple?

  15. There's only so many interested buyers & by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's only so many interested buyers & many people aren't as "affluent" as they used to be (economics being 'down' as we're all hearing) + what others told you - I've seen similar reports before like ones they're putting out to you.

    * I.E. - Lots of things... including common-sense (mostly, it was THIS ONE in our conversations that led me to my conclusions really - the FACT Apple began pursuing overseas markets so aggressively told me they were "running DRY" in USA etc. (toss on the fact that Google is a STRONG COMPETITOR via Android too? Market saturation in combination w/ MANY 'poorer-than-usual' U.S. Folks just seemed to say so to me...))

    (Sorry for late reply - getting into "Criminal Minds" on NetFlix!)

    APK

    P.S.=> My nephew programs Objective C, Swift, C/C++, PERL, Python, Javascript & probably others I'm not aware of so, I'm pretty certain he'd function well anywhere he lands (plus he's a hard worker/dedicated persona)... apk

  16. Or maybe their h/w sucks, not worth buying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Start selling real computers again, Apple!

    1. Re: Or maybe their h/w sucks, not worth buying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My P20 Pro has triple lenses and I can make phone calls with my LTE M5 tablet. You should try some good hardware.

  17. The fall of Nokia started similarly.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sooner than you know it, some Chinese company buys Apple for pennies..

  18. Their debt is shrinking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They only issued debt as a way to leverage that overseas cash for buybacks and dividends. With the tax law change that's no longer necessary, so they are no longer issuing new debt and it will shrink as the bonds mature.

    But don't let facts interfere with your Apple hatred.

    1. Re:Their debt is shrinking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ahhh yes the myopic view through the RDF.

  19. It's all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    flat

  20. Go back to Faux-News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems to me you people can't tell the difference between "news" and "opinion".

    Maybe that is why you spend so much time watching Faux-"News", instead of real news.

  21. #HINDSIGHTIS2020 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Time to vote that piece of shit out.

  22. Unless you own AAPL why does this matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a stockholder issue. Not a nerd issue. Unless you have skin in the game what could matter less?

  23. Americans might not notice but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The dollar is very strong right now. So when Apple jacks the price of their phones up by 20%, people think 20 percent is a lot... but if you add another 10-20% relative to other currencies, people outside the US saw up to a 50 percent increase between generations. Ask Apple, Cisco or any other major multinational who measures their income in dollars how that as impacted them.

    1. Re:Americans might not notice but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Canada:
      2014 Mac mini: 499$CAD
      2018 Mac mini: 999$CAD

  24. why don't you fist your own ass instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why don't you fist your own ass instead. With how many dicks you take daily at the glory hole in the Pilot Travel Center off of I-85 near your house it is the only way you get any feeling.

  25. Stupid pricing tricks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apple seems to make no mention of the astronomical pricing of its latest iPhone models. Apple has always been known as a premium brand commanding premium prices. But several years ago, Apple experimented with lowering prices on its cheapest Macbook and iPhone models. And more and more consumers became Apple customers. But over the past few years, Apple has once again changed course, this time raising prices drastically. So it's no wonder that iPhone sales are declining.

    But this may have a bigger effect on Apple in the future. With more customers shunning the iPhone, Apple is also likely to see future reduced sales on all its consumer products. Why buy a $1500 iPhone when a $400 Android phone will do? And then former iPhone users see that Android phones have a lot more flexibility like being able to place widgets on the home screen; no more boring grids of icons. After that, they see that they can forego buying a $1500 Macbook and instead by a $400 Chromebook.

    Apple is shooting itself in the foot by raising its prices.

  26. Trump is killing your economy by Jzanu · · Score: 1

    Apple had 0% growth, and Harley Davidson had actual 0% profit. Both due to the tariff nonsense. Your economy and China's are linked, supporting each other, growing together. Pursuing policy defined by hate of China is shooting both feet off and calling it good.

  27. AGAIN: Sounds kinky (too much so for me)... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & to any who DOUBTED me on another apple issue? EAT YOUR WORDS (proof) https://apple.slashdot.org/com... (only NOW are the security sites getting wind of it when I knew that was fixed DAYS ago).

    * TROLL CHUMP!

    APK

    P.S.=> You're also PROJECTING your own "StRaNgE" practices & "phantasies" onto me - don't - I'm NOTHING like YOU (ugh, whacked in the head = you)... apk

  28. It's exposed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Economy is driven by relative growth, that makes it a technical "loss" when they get the same records profits than the last period, it's stupid but Economy is stupid run by stupid people to keep shareholders and manipulators entertained.