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

To: pyslent who wrote (190575)	5/17/2016 3:32:58 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213182

You make a good point that ". . . investors think the iPhone is a once in a lifetime type of product in terms of profitability." Which also tells me that many investors consider Apple largely in terms of the future for its iPhones. It seems to me this is too narrow a view. Even though iTunes and related ecosystem components may not be nearly as profitable, they give owners of Apple devices incentives to continue to stay with Apple rather than shift to, for example, Android devices. Thus, Apple has staying power, brought about partly by the ties between its devices and the purchase of books, music, videos, etc. This makes the iPhone and related devices more profitable for Apple and helps explain why Apple continues to report the highest profit margins on its devices. The only thing that really worries me is whether Apple can compete with a flood of new Chinese phones entering world markets, with similar performance specs, but priced about half as much as iPhones. I can't see how a non-integrated modem from Intel, made by Taiwan Semiconductor, and perhaps almost given away to get market share is going to help much in opening or preserving markets in developing nations, where lower prices are often essential for maintaining or increasing market share. I'm also wondering whether many investors have missed the potential of the Apple Watch. Since it was first brought to market, it has taken a huge slice of the market for watches costing $300 - $400 – actually many times the volume of traditional watchmakers at this price point. Even though some of the early models are discounted, I think Apple made a decent profit and at the same time created a new market for a device that is designed to work with smartphones and related devices. If there is a fault here, it is simply that the Watch ought to be made compatible with Android phones as well. Art