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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ryan Bartholomew who wrote (165440)	2/5/2014 5:59:01 PM
From: slacker711	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

I agree with your first and last statements. But your middle one should be corrected to "Apple used to be one of them". The number of Apple customers willing to pay the premium for a device that is on par with much cheaper alternatives is dwindling Your logic is faulty. 1) Apple reported record iPhone/iPad sales in the December quarter and are likely to report flat revenues in Q2. Any "dwindling" is in the future. 2) The idea that if sales do decline a small amount that they are no longer a brand that people pay a premium for is prima facie wrong. It means that fewer people are willing to pay that premium not that they are no longer in the category. But to claim they will increase sales markedly while maintaining margins (which is required for EPS growth) because nothing has changed flies in the face of the data. This conversation started with the launch of the iPhone 4 in India. I explicitly said that this will be gross margin negative but, since I expect little cannibalization, that it will generate a higher profit. The iPhone 4 isnt going to have a big impact on Apple's business but I like the fact that they see the importance of maintaining a minimum share of these developing markets. It is important for long-term strategic reasons that go beyond the increased near-term profits. Slacker

To: Ryan Bartholomew who wrote (165440)	2/5/2014 6:34:02 PM
From: pyslent	4 Recommendations Recommended By HerbVic Moonray Ryan Bartholomew slacker711 Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213177

"The number of Apple customers willing to pay the premium for a device that is on par with much cheaper alternatives is dwindling." This statement is contradicted by the sheer fact that Apple just sold the most iPhones they've ever sold. There's no evidence of "dwindling." I would agree with "no longer growing quickly." In the current quarter, sure, revenue is likely to be flat, but management was quick to point out that the underlying sell through value of iPhones and iPads will grow (eg demand is still "strong" from a certain point of view). "This is precisely why they are losing market share." I disagree with this as well. Apple's market share loss is because the market is growing in areas where Apple has little to no exposure. (editted to note: I didn't mean to pile on. I see Slacker already responded with pretty much the same points).

To: Ryan Bartholomew who wrote (165440)	2/5/2014 10:21:32 PM
From: rnsmth	7 Recommendations Recommended By CHRIS LINELL clean86 HerbVic jeftuxedo pyslent and 2 more members Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

The data show that you are wrong. The data I have seen continues to show that Apple customers overwhelmingly stay with the superior Apple products (both in terms of OS and malware threats), that high end Android customers are switching to iOS products and that a large proportion of Android phone owners are using them pretty much as dumb phones. Apple's real business is establishing relationship with customers, many of whom (85% or so) stay with platform. Those are the facts as I know them. If you have other reliable facts to present, please do so. It would be a refreshing change from opinion.