It's hard to believe that Microsoft is now a bigger company than Apple (market cap $752B vs $678B). Yes the Microsoft that everyone had left for dead during Steve Jobs era and years afterwards.

In China, the iPhone costs a cool $6,000 comparatively, GDP per capita adjusted. In India, it's a $30,000 phone.

The XR appears not to be a good seller and to me, it's not a surprise. Latest iPhones are still seen as status symbol - and the XR is seen as a cut-rate iPhone but not so much at a cut-rate price, like its predecessor the SE. The XS and XS max are priced too high for the regular folks outside of the Apple fandom, as others have said.

Samsung had stumbled earlier in 2018, now it's Apple. I hope this serves as a marketing lesson for these big makers and ends up lowering the price bracket in the premium phone segment, either outright or thru generous offers and trade-ins.

Business Insiders and other pubs have been running articles asking people to keep their current phones longer to send a message to these companies about their outrageous pricing strategy. It seems that the message was sent.

I can't see the value in upgrading my phones (3) for a grand each, there isn't $3,000 increased value in a new iPhone X, nothing in it is revolutionary other than face recognition which I'm not keen on.

Rumor has it that Face recognition is probably a large contributing factor to people not buying model X units, if they are buying apple it's the 8 not the X. Probably because most folks don't like the way they look in pictures, and don't like the fact that they will be seeing themselves when opening their phone.

There are also security issues with face recognition, yes expect the iLovers to be along soon to say "ney ney" it's all safe, it's all good, but they'd say that even if apple made them stick an iPhone under a cats ass to open it.

https://azdailysun.com/news/lo...29-c0baf736aaf4.html

Apple may be selling a lot of $1,000 phones, but my company buys a lot of phones - thousands annually . I saw the Verizon invoice for my new iPhone 8 - $145 without a contract (but we do have a corporate contract) If Verizon can sell an iPhone 8 for $145 and make money, wha must Apple be selling them en masse to Verizon for?

The leading Computer / Telecom / Smart Device designer manufacturer in the world is trading at nearly 10x earnings....and you now think it is a "sell".

thank you very much for the BUY signal!

quote:

Originally posted by x0225095:
The leading Computer / Telecom / Smart Device designer manufacturer in the world is trading at nearly 10x earnings....and you now think it is a "sell".

thank you very much for the BUY signal!

Exactly. If you didn't see it on page one, their EPS is at a record high. That's the opposite of a collapse.

Stocks go up...stocks go down. This is hardly the first time Apple has faded from its highs. I wouldn't bet against them and I'd be inclined to start a position here if I were looking to put some money to work for the long term.

Every year we see articles published about Apple’s demise. It’s not going to happen any time soon.

Also, the iPhone is a COMPUTER, not a cellphone. Of course we all want everything for less money, but if you view it as “just a cellphone”, then try using only that feature....or buy “just a cellphone.”

Tim Cook makes us long for the Gil Amelio days.

Steve Jobs was Apple. He brought along products we didn't know we needed but found we couldn't live without. He may not have invented them but he perfected them and brought them to market when we needed them.

Apple isn't collapsing. It may not be innovating like it once did but it's certainly not collapsing. People tend to hold Apple to the standard it set for itself. Those were insanely high. Judge them next to other companies and collapsing would never come to mind.

I think Apple took a huge hit when Job's died though I don't think they will ever be the same. He had that special ability that worked for Apple.

Did Tim Cook try to blame President Trump for China's slumping market for their phone sales forecast down grade?

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
"Collapse"? Sorry, I don't think so. They may have saturated their markets, but "collapse"? No.

Maybe "collapse" is a bit of hype by the author but he did make the point that they've lost 30% of their value in a very short time.

I’d agree “collapse” may not be the best term. While the stock is $100 off it’s high, it will probably recover some portion if not all of that. If you buy for the long term, it’s worth keeping an eye on for a while. I understand Warren Buffett bought a couple of scoops full today.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Tim Cook makes us long for the Gil Amelio days.

I wouldn’t go THAT far. Although I am nostalgic for my Quadra 660av. For $2500, it was amazing what it could do.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
The main reason Apple’s stock dropped is because of a slowing economy in China and slower sales in emerging markets.

Another key China reason - all the China phone makers are claiming a higher percentage of the market share in China. I wonder where they acquired a lot of the tech.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I'm not replacing my iPhone X until 5G comes to my neighborhood (already in some parts of Houston).

Then you won't be replacing your current iPhone with a new iPhone for a very long time given Apple has no plans to make a 5G capable phone in 2019 and most or all of 2020 from what I've read. Personally, I think this is a huge mistake. 5G has the potential to be a huge game changer, hence the reason Samsung, LG, OnePlus, and others have already committed to producing 5G phones in 2019.

I owned Apple stock yesterday and I still own it today. Apple however is facing some real challenges as sales volumes for their phones continue to fall. They've been making most of their revenue projections, but off of margins on their new phones, not unit sales volumes. That does pose some issues for the future given Apple does not embrace the low to mid product price offerings giving potential buyers options.

Personally, I see the cellphone market fragmenting into to primary groups over the next two years. Group 1 or the high end flagship phones costing $1k+, and group 2 being the value market ranging from $300 top $600. And since the value market products have improved so much, requiring buyers to sacrifice very little anymore, I only see that segment growing and getting more competitive.

I saw some of the video where Tim Cook visited a school in Idaho with Ivanka. I was impressed by the way he interacted with the children. I like the guy, and I think he will do well for Apple going forward.

My experience for the last 30 years is stocks often get ahead of themselves. This has happened to Apple before, it will probably happen again. The question is, has Apple's core business, and it's future prospects dropped in concert with the stock drop?

Jim Allen liked Realty Income (O). Their business is totally different than Apple's, and I have no doubt they are a great company, but their PE as of today's close is 56.77. Kraft-Heinz's PE is a bit more than 13. Apple's is under 12.

They are all in different businesses. The dividend yields for O and KHC are higher, but in 5 years, which likely has a higher upside? AAPL will adjust and improve. IIRC, they are due to release the next generation of 8K upper-end computers and monitors. I would not bet against them at this point.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
"Collapse"? Sorry, I don't think so. They may have saturated their markets, but "collapse"? No.

Maybe "collapse" is a bit of hype by the author but he did make the point that they've lost 30% of their value in a very short time.

Watch the stock market much? What the "market" values a company at ebbs and flows every day. Some days companies are overvalued, some days undervalued. AAPL is, based on earnings, one of the more reasonably valued companies right now.

I found this interesting:

quote:

Apple is partially blaming weak iPhone sales on customers taking advantage of the $30 battery-replacement offer

Buried deep in the letter is Cook's admission that some of the devoted Apple fans who used to buy new devices every year are now "taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements."

Following a massive scandal over its practice of deliberately slowing down older iPhones, Apple reduced the price for its battery replacements, charging $29 instead of $79 in 2018. The program was wrapped up by the end of the year.

One user argued that Cook's mentioning of the battery drama serves as proof that it was Apple's strategy from the beginning to fire up sales by damaging the performance and battery life of older models.

https://www.businessinsider.co...acement-offer-2019-1

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
I found this interesting:

quote:

Apple is partially blaming weak iPhone sales on customers taking advantage of the $30 battery-replacement offer

Buried deep in the letter is Cook's admission that some of the devoted Apple fans who used to buy new devices every year are now "taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements."

Following a massive scandal over its practice of deliberately slowing down older iPhones, Apple reduced the price for its battery replacements, charging $29 instead of $79 in 2018. The program was wrapped up by the end of the year.

One user argued that Cook's mentioning of the battery drama serves as proof that it was Apple's strategy from the beginning to fire up sales by damaging the performance and battery life of older models.

https://www.businessinsider.co...acement-offer-2019-1

Apps like CPUDasherX have proven that Apple was right to throttle older phones with weak batteries.

What I like about Apple eco system is that the operating system supports the hardware much longer. I have an older iPad Mini 2 that came out in 2014 and is STILL being support by iOS....5 Years old !!! As good as Android is, most phones and tablets that are 2 years or older are no longer supported by the Android operating system. God Bless

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
I can't see the value in upgrading my phones (3) for a grand each, there isn't $3,000 increased value in a new iPhone X, nothing in it is revolutionary other than face recognition which I'm not keen on.

Rumor has it that Face recognition is probably a large contributing factor to people not buying model X units, if they are buying apple it's the 8 not the X. Probably because most folks don't like the way they look in pictures, and don't like the fact that they will be seeing themselves when opening their phone.

There are also security issues with face recognition, yes expect the iLovers to be along soon to say "ney ney" it's all safe, it's all good, but they'd say that even if apple made them stick an iPhone under a cats ass to open it.

https://azdailysun.com/news/lo...29-c0baf736aaf4.html

Everyone loves to beat up Apple over their “thousand dollar phones”. Quick look at Verizon website shows “Red Hydrogen One” (never even heard of that brand) Android at $1295, iPhone XS Max at $1099, Samsung Note 9 at $999, iPhone XS at $999, Google Pixel 3 at $929, Samsung S9+ at $929.

Where is all the bitching about the overpriced thousand dollar Android phones that there is no market for? I get it, there are also $200 Androids. So let’s be honest, what really has folks worked up is that there are no $200 iPhones. Get over it, buy an Android then or buy a 3 generation back used iPhone.

Apple chooses to cater to the higher end and evidently would rather make “X” dollars selling “Y” number of phones instead of making “X” dollars by selling “Y*25” phones. I’m ok with that, their company and they can do what they wish with it.



Face ID is optional and you do not see your face when unlocking the phone.


Oh, and the article you linked (nearly a year old) doesn’t support your conclusion. The contributors contradict themselves and note that Face ID is no worse than fingerprints. Sure, they say it isn’t something they recommend for SSN databases, gee- what cellphone is? Oh, and the guy who said that also noted he has an X and feels it is plenty secure for what he does with a phone.

Go ahead and dismiss me as an “iLover”, I’ve used both personally and am the tech support guy for family with Android. Wouldn’t be a real Apple thread without the iHaters...