You're right, Apple should do what Android manufacturer do. Never update the OS On the phone and to earn extra kudos, ship new phones with under powered hardware and old OS versions.
If Apple really wanted to be more customer focused they could allow carriers to install crapware on their phones to slow it down more.
The XBox division is only profitable in the sense that it no longer needs massive cash injections to keep it alive. It is a long ways from paying off the huge outlay of cash that Microsoft made to push it into the market.
And the Entertainment & Devices division includes the Mac Business Unit which is profitable and helps props up the E&D.
There will come a time in the future thanks to the popularity of iPhones and flagship Android phones where they begin building them with support for all carriers.
Welcome to 2011. The iPhone 4S supported CDMA and GSM with one SKU.
LTE made the situation more complicated though with the 5C/5S
I am also confused why instead of mentioning Google? why you mention HTC and Motorola. Motorola does not Appear in the top ten Android manufacturers, and HTC is 10th, and is also a windows phone manufacturer.
Uhh, Google owns Motorola. So whatever few pennies that Google makes from Android is dwarfed by Motorola losses.
Coolpad/Yulong; Sony; ZTE; Huawei; Lenovo; LG all sell more phones than both these companies and are doing very nicely....But even more so what this has to do with Chrome and Android on the Desktop?
You did see the link showing Apple and Samsung combined make virtually all of the profits in mobile didn't you?
Chrome on the desktop is even smaller than regular old Linux.
But Micro$oft (I wonder why Apple always forget Micro$oft) is making out like gangbusters despite Windows 8 with Intel making about 70% gross margins.
Because unless you count the Surface which MS just took a $900 million loss on, they don't make hardware. But you seem to forget that Apple's iPhone revenue alone is larger than all of MIcrosofts revenue and Apple is more profitable.
Manufacturers are moving over to producing Android and Chrome to boost margins and are making a tidy 20%.
That must be why HTC, Motorola, and all of the other Android manufacturers are making record profits....
HTC just announced massive layoffs, Motorola has been haemorrhaging money for years, Etc. The only company making money off of Android is Samsung.
Again this is little evidence to suggest that Apple will occupy the same niche in the Mobile market that it has in the computing market.
You mean like evidence that Apple earned 57% of mobile profits and Samsung earned the other 43%? Where are all of these other massively profitable Android manufacturers?
Apple have shown time and again that they can maximise products in new markets by hoovering up all that ealier adopter money only to flouder in the maturing market.
You're right, that must be why Apple is doing so horribly bad in the computer market while HP, Dell, etc. are making money hand over fist.....
Android statistically overtaking iOS, coupled with a potential rise in other phones as life goes on, with varying licensing constraints for Pandora, competition from Spotify and a half dozen others, and the whole crux of this post is insane.
Pandora is only available in three countries and in its largest country - the US - iOS has a 40% market share.
Apple makes licensing deals directly with the music companies so can be available anywhere where Apple can make a deal. Pandora depends on compulsory licenses that are only available in three countries.
In other words, Apple's addressable market is much larger than Pandora's and iTunes radio is cheaper
And if you forget the "iPhone charging cable" on the go, you can't borrow a standard USB cable which are pretty ubiquitous to recharge your phone, you need to find someone that has the proprietary cable.
And you can't find an iPhone cable at almost any convenience store?
Can the iPhone now play Flac and OGG files and other open source formats without transcoding?
And neither can "Android". The only required audio codecs for an Android distribution are MP3 and AAC, Some manufacturers may include support for other formats.
trololol market cap. not remotely a measure of value
The "value" of anything is what someone is willing to pay. The market cap of a company is what the market says the company is worth. Anyone wanting to buy the company has to at least pay the market cap.
The main reason that Google bought Motorola was to shore up its patent arsenal which really hasn't helped since other companies can sue Google using non-FRAND patents while Google can't retaliate because most of Motorola's useful patents are FRAND.
On top of that Motorola has lost millions of dollars more since Google acquired them.
Further, Mobile AirDrop is iphone 5 only. Are they seriously saying that an iphone 4S isnt capable of sharing data over wifi? Its insane that less then 2 years after introduction, im already NOT getting features in updates. Im done with Apple since they are hell bent on never allowing us access to the filesystem.
Look at the rumored (but very likely) "low cost iPhone". It's made of cheap plastic, which Apple had been trying to get away from for years with Jobs at the helm. Steve would have likely insisted that they find a way to build the iPhone out of its current materials but less expensively, and I'm sure the engineers would have lived up to the challenge.
You're right if only the guy who led the design of the iPhone and the logistics guy who made sure the components were well sourced hadn't left Apple when SJ died.,,,,
Oh wait, the design guy is a VP and the logistics guy is the CEO, never mind.
If their was a history of internal theft at these two stores than it is a non-issue. then again Apple should not make their products so expensive that their own underpaid employees cannot afford them. The overcharging-VZW store that I use at least gives their workers any phone while employed there. Manager said it is good advertising.
Who said they can't afford it? An iPhone 5 currently goes for about $500 on eBay. US minimum wage is $7.25/hour, so it takes about 70 hours (1-2 weeks) to earn that much, pre tax.
Apple cash : 10,746,000 Intel's market cap: 115,690,000,000
True, pedantically speaking Apple has $10 billion in cash. But also add "long term investments". These are assets that are easy to sell like stocks, bonds, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
You're right, Apple should do what Android manufacturer do. Never update the OS On the phone and to earn extra kudos, ship new phones with under powered hardware and old OS versions.
If Apple really wanted to be more customer focused they could allow carriers to install crapware on their phones to slow it down more.
And the Entertainment & Devices division includes the Mac Business Unit which is profitable and helps props up the E&D.
Welcome to 2011. The iPhone 4S supported CDMA and GSM with one SKU.
LTE made the situation more complicated though with the 5C/5S
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/166356-iphone-5s-and-5c-the-best-support-for-3g-and-4g-lte-networks-worldwide
Samsung is the only company making money off of Android. Motorola has caused Google to lose millions each quarter on Android.
Besides that, Google admitted that they make more money off of ios users than Android users.
Uhh, Google owns Motorola. So whatever few pennies that Google makes from Android is dwarfed by Motorola losses.
You did see the link showing Apple and Samsung combined make virtually all of the profits in mobile didn't you?
Chrome on the desktop is even smaller than regular old Linux.
Because unless you count the Surface which MS just took a $900 million loss on, they don't make hardware. But you seem to forget that Apple's iPhone revenue alone is larger than all of MIcrosofts revenue and Apple is more profitable.
That must be why HTC, Motorola, and all of the other Android manufacturers are making record profits....
HTC just announced massive layoffs, Motorola has been haemorrhaging money for years, Etc. The only company making money off of Android is Samsung.
You're right, that must be why Apple is doing so horribly bad in the computer market while HP, Dell, etc. are making money hand over fist.....
Oh Wait....
Starbucks has been doing iTunes promotions since the iPhone came out....
https://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/09/05Apple-and-Starbucks-Announce-Music-Partnership.html
(this only works from within Starbucks stores)
http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/entertainment/pick-of-the-week-error
Pandora is only available in three countries and in its largest country - the US - iOS has a 40% market share.
Apple makes licensing deals directly with the music companies so can be available anywhere where Apple can make a deal. Pandora depends on compulsory licenses that are only available in three countries.
In other words, Apple's addressable market is much larger than Pandora's and iTunes radio is cheaper
http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-20122525-285/ios-5-tip-how-to-enable-led-flash-alerts/
You're Welcome.
So why do you think Amazon is willing to sell ebooks at a loss?
Do you think they just love their customers or maybe if they can drive their competitors out of business they can raise prices later?
And you can't find an iPhone cable at almost any convenience store?
And neither can "Android". The only required audio codecs for an Android distribution are MP3 and AAC, Some manufacturers may include support for other formats.
Luckily, you can buy an app.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/golden-ear/id407945101?mt=8
The "value" of anything is what someone is willing to pay. The market cap of a company is what the market says the company is worth. Anyone wanting to buy the company has to at least pay the market cap.
The main reason that Google bought Motorola was to shore up its patent arsenal which really hasn't helped since other companies can sue Google using non-FRAND patents while Google can't retaliate because most of Motorola's useful patents are FRAND.
On top of that Motorola has lost millions of dollars more since Google acquired them.
A list of Foxconn's customers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn
Acer Inc. (Taiwan)[39]
Amazon.com (United States)[7]
Apple Inc. (United States)[40]
Cisco (United States)[41]
Dell (United States)[42]
Google (United States)[43]
Hewlett-Packard (United States)[44]
Microsoft (United States)[45]
Motorola Mobility (United States)[42]
Nintendo (Japan)[46]
Nokia (Finland)[40][47]
Sony (Japan)[8]
Toshiba (Japan) [48]
Vizio (United States)[49]
They've been selling refurbs on the Apple store for years.....
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals
Apple has been selling refurbs for years. I first bought a refurb 60GB iPod in 2006.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals
Good luck with those timely Android updates....
You mean the same Steve Jobs who came back and immediately made a deal with Microsoft and sold $250 million worth of stock to them?
You're right if only the guy who led the design of the iPhone and the logistics guy who made sure the components were well sourced hadn't left Apple when SJ died.,,,,
Oh wait, the design guy is a VP and the logistics guy is the CEO, never mind.
So an Apple worker couldn't get a loan/use a credit card like everyone else?
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Apple-Salaries-E1138.htm
The average salary for the lowest job is $11.90/hour.
Assuming a 20 hour work week and net after taxes of $8/hour....
iPad Mini - 40 hours.
iPhone (subsidized) - $25 hours
MacBook Air - 125 hours.
How many hours would I need to work if I were a construction worker to pay for the houses I build? An autoworker?
Apple pays more than minimum wage.
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Apple-Salaries-E1138.htm
http://osxdaily.com/2010/10/05/apple-store-pay/
Did you actually bother about researching before you posted that?
True, pedantically speaking Apple has $10 billion in cash. But also add "long term investments". These are assets that are easy to sell like stocks, bonds, etc.