Well, I'm sure the Vietnamese slaves who work in Samsung sweatshops for $1/hour will send you some of their money because you speak out on Samsung's behalf.
Discussing the crooked business practices of Apple is not the same as "speaking out on behalf of Samsung". It can be hard to fathom for a fanboi but not everyone is blinded by A Brand.
Gee, could this have something to do with most Apple users buying their own phone when they come out in fall instead of waiting until they get one for Christmas?
If Apple were in the dire position of _ever_ actually losing money again, say at a rate of a Billion a year.... they have cash on hand to limp on for... over two centuries.
Wrong. Most of their cash (about 230 billions) is abroad and they can't touch it without giving a huge chunk of it to the tax man. They also have huge debts, to the tune of 75 billions.
If they were to bring back their money, pay their taxes and pay their debts, Apple would have less money than McDonalds. Apple is a market bubble all by itself.
44% Apple, 55.9% Android, and don't forget 0.1% the late great Microsoft.
The Microsoft smartphone strategy will always remain a mystery to me. It's like they did all they could to scare developers away and to only allow low-end models to be sold via telecom providers.
I used a high-end Lumia for a while and it was very nice. I installed Gmail because Outlook is just brain-damaged but besides that, all the built-in apps were pretty good, I was surprised. Good battery life, good gps and maps, terrific camera. Of course the app store is a joke - and that by itself is a shame because Windows is the only smartphone o/s that allows you to create native apps with html5 and javascript (without faking it like phonegap).
Ok I will have to assume that you don't know how this works.
It's not a one-size-fits-all situation. First, Foxconn is not the only supplier, there's also Pegatron (who pays the workers on Apple production line even less than Foxconn, an impressive $1.85/hour). Second, the conditions for each production line is not the same. Apple has dedicated plants and they are by far the worst: extreme pressure, poor working conditions, etc. It's well-documented to the point that even poor Chinese workers no longer want to work in those plants, which led Foxconn to implement a new policy: only workers who bring in new recruits are eligible for overtime (which, given the low wages, is vital to pay for basic living conditions).
You would assume that things have improved since Steve Jobs had them install those safety nets. But here's an interesting story from 4 months ago (Aug 2016) in the WSJ:
Early one day last week, a 31-year-old man finished his night shift on an iPhone assembly line, climbed to the top floor of Foxconn Technology Group’s L03 production building and leapt to his death. He had been on the job for a month. [...] [The workers] were especially anxious to learn details of the suicide, which they said occurred during a time of intense pressure on workers as the factory ramps up for iPhone production.
Now, please provide a list of suicides in Foxconn factories on the production line from any of the companies on your list: Acer Inc. (Taiwan) Amazon.com (United States) Apple Inc. (United States) BlackBerry Ltd. (Canada) Cisco (United States) Dell (United States) Google (United States) Hewlett-Packard (United States) Huawei (China) InFocus (United States) Intel (United States) Microsoft (United States) Motorola Mobility (United States) Nintendo (Japan) Nokia (Finland) Sony (Japan) Toshiba (Japan) Vizio (United States) Xiaomi (China)
So when Apple's business model is sustainable (profitable), it's bad?
Profitable and sustainable are two different things. For instance, one can operate a very profitable business as a bank robber or Ponzi scheme instigator but this is not sustainable.
Fucking your customers over consistently by forcing them to upgrade power cables or headphones on top of selling them antiquated hardware at a premium compared to the vastly superior hardware sold by the competition is not a sustainable business model.
That must explain all those suicides. Overabundance of happiness and hope.
That also must explain why Apple prefer installing safety nets to prevent workers from jumping from the factory roofs rather than sacrificing $12 of their $400 profit per device. Otherwise, what's next? They're gonna ask for picnic tables or some kind of free water supply in those hot factories? Must draw the line somewhere. Besides, working for Apple should be a reward by itself.
yeah they take disposable drones designed to fight people who don't have indoor plumbing and who film their propaganda on vhs camcorders, and they try to use that against Russian hackers. That's like hiring convenience store robbers to steal gold from fort knox.
Businesses only stay in business when they make profit.
Businesses stay in business when their business model is sustainable. That's why Apple took a nosedive in the 90s and had to be saved by Microsoft, and that's why they're again heading straight for the wall. They don't learn.
Yeah don't get me wrong here, I'm not a fan of Samsung. I had a Samsung phone a while ago and it was the worst of the androids I ever had. Bloatware, terrible keyboard, awful battery life. But the fact remains that they're taking over the market from Apple and that's Apple's fault.
Apple takes home the lion's share of all mobile profits by a huge margin.
And you consider this a good thing? Bragging material? When everyone knows that they stopped innovating years ago, that they're exploiting Chinese workers and that they're piling up billions upon billions of dollars in offshore bank accounts, severely hurting the American economy in the process?
Meanwhile Apple customers are probably the first to get their panties in a bunch over Walmart business practices and their impact on the American factories. Such a bunch of hypocrites.
Interesting factoid! Please tell my which brand of cellphone I should buy that is so generous to its laborers, making the most commoditized electronic product in the world?
According to China Labor Watch, pretty much any brand except for Apple.
Also if your argument is that smartphones are commoditized, can you explain why you and other fanbois applause and cheer a company that makes $400 per device they sell, while a simple $12 chunk of this profit could make the Chinese workers who do all the work live well?
Anyone who buys an iPhone is complicit of this outrageous exploitation of human beings.
Sure, and that 56% accounts for 30% of device revenue, 20% of app sales, and only 10% of devices with the newest OS installed.
You're looking at this ass backwards. The huge profit margin and the planned obsolescence that is at the core of Apple business model is the exact reason why they are losing their grip on the market. They could dominate this industry for a long time if they focused on building good phones at a good price, but instead they're on a money-grab strategy (minimum investment, maximum profit) and they're sinking.
You can't keep selling average phones at a huge premium for a long time, people wise up and ditch you. Historically there's been a small segment of Apple fanatics, roughly around 10% of the market, and that's where Apple is headed. Back home, to the small niche of people who don't mind overpaying for what they think is prestigious.
The interesting figure is that Samsung *increased* their new activations, going from 19% to 21%, in the same year that they had to recall every single one of their new phones because they exploded. Meanwhile, Apple activations went down again. I mean, it takes a real optimist to spin that as a win for Apple.
And it's a long-running trend.
2014: Apple 51%, Samsung 17% 2015: Apple 49%, Samsung 19% 2016: Apple 44%, Samsung 21%
Now all Samsung has to do is ship a phone that doesn't explode or doesn't catch fire and they'll probably get a tie with Apple within a year or two. All of this after Apple had a complete monopoly in this market just 5 years ago. They'll probably end up in business textbooks as a case study of how companies can go from winners to total obsolescence within a same decade.
I'm sure the Chinese slaves who work in Apple sweatshops for $3/hour will rejoice. It will ensure them many more months of working 64h/week before they earn more than they spend on basic living conditions.
It would cost $12 per device to Apple if they were to ensure a decent wage to those workers but that would slow down the insane piling of money in Apple offshore accounts so it will never happen.
Thank you Apple and Apple customers! You all contribute to making the world a better place.
I have watched Phil Schiller (and others) onstage for many years, and either he is an Academy Award-level Actor, or his enthusiasm I have observed over the years is genuine. I choose to believe my gut that it is the latter.
Whoopi Goldberg is an Academy Award-level actress (yes she actually won one) so that's not much of a reference. And nobody is saying he hasn't drank the Kool-Aid, the point is that instead of seriously looking at their battery problem (which has surfaced many times in the news) Apple is sending a marketing "enthusiast" to convince people that the incompetents in this matter are Consumer Reports, not Apple.
But there's no reason to pay either Oracle's or Microsoft's licensing costs.
In the enterprise world you're often stuck with vendor requirements. Most ERPs for instance support Oracle and SQL Serve, some also support DB2, but they never support MySQL or Postgresql. Even if you know full well that they're using JDBC and that it would work with other RDBMS, you have to live with their requirements or they won't certify your setup, which is like voiding the warranty on an expensive new car. If the company is paying $250,000 / year in ERP licenses, plus a cool mil or two for the implementation process, nobody will be willing to risk a dial tone when calling the vendor because the RDBMS is not supported.
That's why it's often infuriating to deal with Oracle, they had a monopoly for quite a while and they milked it real good. Microsoft is not cheap but they are less likely to shove extra licenses down your throat just because they can.
Sounds similar to what Sony did a few years back with their Vaios. The laptops had serious issues with wifi connectivity and Sony would send people from Japan to investigate the situation. You would think they would be sending people to repair the problem and resolve the situation once and for all. Nope. You'd get a nice email about how you're at fault for everything. Meanwhile, people continued to have issues with the wifi connectivity.
Did they ever fix the issue or offer a resolution? Nope. The whole thing ended up being a PR stunt.
Maybe Apple should sue them for stealing their "you're doing it wrong" approach.
Phil Schiller has been involved in many aspects of Apple during his loooooong tenure with the company. It is obvious to anyone who has watched his career at Apple that he is, first and foremost, and outside of any title he may hold, an Apple User and an Apple Enthusiast, who takes both the product and the whole "experience" quite seriously.
honestly, "TheFakeTimCook", do you jerk off to pictures of Apple executives? I've seen fanbois before you're up there with macs4all.
So I should have said: "he probably owns investments under other peoples names and wants to sell them to suckers at a high price."
well it's still better than an investment banker, who also sells stuff to suckers at a high price but doesn't own shit and never takes a personal risk.
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Well, I'm sure the Vietnamese slaves who work in Samsung sweatshops for $1/hour will send you some of their money because you speak out on Samsung's behalf.
Discussing the crooked business practices of Apple is not the same as "speaking out on behalf of Samsung". It can be hard to fathom for a fanboi but not everyone is blinded by A Brand.
Gee, could this have something to do with most Apple users buying their own phone when they come out in fall instead of waiting until they get one for Christmas?
No.
If Apple were in the dire position of _ever_ actually losing money again, say at a rate of a Billion a year.... they have cash on hand to limp on for... over two centuries.
Wrong. Most of their cash (about 230 billions) is abroad and they can't touch it without giving a huge chunk of it to the tax man. They also have huge debts, to the tune of 75 billions.
If they were to bring back their money, pay their taxes and pay their debts, Apple would have less money than McDonalds. Apple is a market bubble all by itself.
44% Apple, 55.9% Android, and don't forget 0.1% the late great Microsoft.
The Microsoft smartphone strategy will always remain a mystery to me. It's like they did all they could to scare developers away and to only allow low-end models to be sold via telecom providers.
I used a high-end Lumia for a while and it was very nice. I installed Gmail because Outlook is just brain-damaged but besides that, all the built-in apps were pretty good, I was surprised. Good battery life, good gps and maps, terrific camera. Of course the app store is a joke - and that by itself is a shame because Windows is the only smartphone o/s that allows you to create native apps with html5 and javascript (without faking it like phonegap).
Ok I will have to assume that you don't know how this works.
It's not a one-size-fits-all situation. First, Foxconn is not the only supplier, there's also Pegatron (who pays the workers on Apple production line even less than Foxconn, an impressive $1.85/hour). Second, the conditions for each production line is not the same. Apple has dedicated plants and they are by far the worst: extreme pressure, poor working conditions, etc. It's well-documented to the point that even poor Chinese workers no longer want to work in those plants, which led Foxconn to implement a new policy: only workers who bring in new recruits are eligible for overtime (which, given the low wages, is vital to pay for basic living conditions).
You would assume that things have improved since Steve Jobs had them install those safety nets. But here's an interesting story from 4 months ago (Aug 2016) in the WSJ:
Early one day last week, a 31-year-old man finished his night shift on an iPhone assembly line, climbed to the top floor of Foxconn Technology Group’s L03 production building and leapt to his death. He had been on the job for a month.
[...]
[The workers] were especially anxious to learn details of the suicide, which they said occurred during a time of intense pressure on workers as the factory ramps up for iPhone production.
Now, please provide a list of suicides in Foxconn factories on the production line from any of the companies on your list:
Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
Amazon.com (United States)
Apple Inc. (United States)
BlackBerry Ltd. (Canada)
Cisco (United States)
Dell (United States)
Google (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)
Huawei (China)
InFocus (United States)
Intel (United States)
Microsoft (United States)
Motorola Mobility (United States)
Nintendo (Japan)
Nokia (Finland)
Sony (Japan)
Toshiba (Japan)
Vizio (United States)
Xiaomi (China)
Take your time.
So when Apple's business model is sustainable (profitable), it's bad?
Profitable and sustainable are two different things. For instance, one can operate a very profitable business as a bank robber or Ponzi scheme instigator but this is not sustainable.
Fucking your customers over consistently by forcing them to upgrade power cables or headphones on top of selling them antiquated hardware at a premium compared to the vastly superior hardware sold by the competition is not a sustainable business model.
Citation or gtfo
<-- wikipedia is that way, and 4chan is that way -->
Slashdot is for people with at least a working knowledge of search engines.
They prefer their factory jobs?
That must explain all those suicides. Overabundance of happiness and hope.
That also must explain why Apple prefer installing safety nets to prevent workers from jumping from the factory roofs rather than sacrificing $12 of their $400 profit per device. Otherwise, what's next? They're gonna ask for picnic tables or some kind of free water supply in those hot factories? Must draw the line somewhere. Besides, working for Apple should be a reward by itself.
yeah they take disposable drones designed to fight people who don't have indoor plumbing and who film their propaganda on vhs camcorders, and they try to use that against Russian hackers. That's like hiring convenience store robbers to steal gold from fort knox.
Businesses only stay in business when they make profit.
Businesses stay in business when their business model is sustainable. That's why Apple took a nosedive in the 90s and had to be saved by Microsoft, and that's why they're again heading straight for the wall. They don't learn.
Yeah don't get me wrong here, I'm not a fan of Samsung. I had a Samsung phone a while ago and it was the worst of the androids I ever had. Bloatware, terrible keyboard, awful battery life. But the fact remains that they're taking over the market from Apple and that's Apple's fault.
Apple takes home the lion's share of all mobile profits by a huge margin.
And you consider this a good thing? Bragging material? When everyone knows that they stopped innovating years ago, that they're exploiting Chinese workers and that they're piling up billions upon billions of dollars in offshore bank accounts, severely hurting the American economy in the process?
Meanwhile Apple customers are probably the first to get their panties in a bunch over Walmart business practices and their impact on the American factories. Such a bunch of hypocrites.
Interesting factoid! Please tell my which brand of cellphone I should buy that is so generous to its laborers, making the most commoditized electronic product in the world?
According to China Labor Watch, pretty much any brand except for Apple.
Also if your argument is that smartphones are commoditized, can you explain why you and other fanbois applause and cheer a company that makes $400 per device they sell, while a simple $12 chunk of this profit could make the Chinese workers who do all the work live well?
Anyone who buys an iPhone is complicit of this outrageous exploitation of human beings.
Sure, and that 56% accounts for 30% of device revenue, 20% of app sales, and only 10% of devices with the newest OS installed.
You're looking at this ass backwards. The huge profit margin and the planned obsolescence that is at the core of Apple business model is the exact reason why they are losing their grip on the market. They could dominate this industry for a long time if they focused on building good phones at a good price, but instead they're on a money-grab strategy (minimum investment, maximum profit) and they're sinking.
You can't keep selling average phones at a huge premium for a long time, people wise up and ditch you. Historically there's been a small segment of Apple fanatics, roughly around 10% of the market, and that's where Apple is headed. Back home, to the small niche of people who don't mind overpaying for what they think is prestigious.
The interesting figure is that Samsung *increased* their new activations, going from 19% to 21%, in the same year that they had to recall every single one of their new phones because they exploded. Meanwhile, Apple activations went down again. I mean, it takes a real optimist to spin that as a win for Apple.
And it's a long-running trend.
2014: Apple 51%, Samsung 17%
2015: Apple 49%, Samsung 19%
2016: Apple 44%, Samsung 21%
Now all Samsung has to do is ship a phone that doesn't explode or doesn't catch fire and they'll probably get a tie with Apple within a year or two. All of this after Apple had a complete monopoly in this market just 5 years ago. They'll probably end up in business textbooks as a case study of how companies can go from winners to total obsolescence within a same decade.
I'm sure the Chinese slaves who work in Apple sweatshops for $3/hour will rejoice. It will ensure them many more months of working 64h/week before they earn more than they spend on basic living conditions.
It would cost $12 per device to Apple if they were to ensure a decent wage to those workers but that would slow down the insane piling of money in Apple offshore accounts so it will never happen.
Thank you Apple and Apple customers! You all contribute to making the world a better place.
Apple had 49.1% of new activations last year. They can't even keep their numbers in their strongest quarter.
When exactly did we confirm the existence of dark matter?
Duh, look it up, season 1 is on Netflix.
It's kinda sad, especially since Seinfeld is not even funny. Even in the show named after him he was the least funny character.
The majority of new device activations (roughly 56%) was Android phones.
I have watched Phil Schiller (and others) onstage for many years, and either he is an Academy Award-level Actor, or his enthusiasm I have observed over the years is genuine. I choose to believe my gut that it is the latter.
Whoopi Goldberg is an Academy Award-level actress (yes she actually won one) so that's not much of a reference. And nobody is saying he hasn't drank the Kool-Aid, the point is that instead of seriously looking at their battery problem (which has surfaced many times in the news) Apple is sending a marketing "enthusiast" to convince people that the incompetents in this matter are Consumer Reports, not Apple.
But there's no reason to pay either Oracle's or Microsoft's licensing costs.
In the enterprise world you're often stuck with vendor requirements. Most ERPs for instance support Oracle and SQL Serve, some also support DB2, but they never support MySQL or Postgresql. Even if you know full well that they're using JDBC and that it would work with other RDBMS, you have to live with their requirements or they won't certify your setup, which is like voiding the warranty on an expensive new car. If the company is paying $250,000 / year in ERP licenses, plus a cool mil or two for the implementation process, nobody will be willing to risk a dial tone when calling the vendor because the RDBMS is not supported.
That's why it's often infuriating to deal with Oracle, they had a monopoly for quite a while and they milked it real good. Microsoft is not cheap but they are less likely to shove extra licenses down your throat just because they can.
Sounds similar to what Sony did a few years back with their Vaios. The laptops had serious issues with wifi connectivity and Sony would send people from Japan to investigate the situation. You would think they would be sending people to repair the problem and resolve the situation once and for all. Nope. You'd get a nice email about how you're at fault for everything. Meanwhile, people continued to have issues with the wifi connectivity.
Did they ever fix the issue or offer a resolution? Nope. The whole thing ended up being a PR stunt.
Maybe Apple should sue them for stealing their "you're doing it wrong" approach.
Phil Schiller has been involved in many aspects of Apple during his loooooong tenure with the company. It is obvious to anyone who has watched his career at Apple that he is, first and foremost, and outside of any title he may hold, an Apple User and an Apple Enthusiast, who takes both the product and the whole "experience" quite seriously.
honestly, "TheFakeTimCook", do you jerk off to pictures of Apple executives? I've seen fanbois before you're up there with macs4all.
So I should have said: "he probably owns investments under other peoples names and wants to sell them to suckers at a high price."
well it's still better than an investment banker, who also sells stuff to suckers at a high price but doesn't own shit and never takes a personal risk.