rkbabang Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 10 Eye-Opening IC Insights - 2) Apple nudges into Top 50 "In an interesting anomaly for the market watcher, Apple nudged into the list of Top 50 chip providers for the first time, landing at #44. TSMC started producing some of Apple SoCs in June 2014, nearly $1.5 billion worth in six months. All Apple’s chips used to be counted as part of the sales of Apple’s former foundry partner, Samsung. “The object [of putting Apple on the list] is to account for those TSMC sales,” said McClean. “It looks strange seeing Apple on a major semiconductor supplier chart, but if you don’t count them, you are missing something,” he said..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 They should charter a flight to the moon and paint a giant apple logo which everyone sees during a full moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 They should charter a flight to the moon and paint a giant apple logo which everyone sees during a full moon. Or they could build their own spaceship and... oh wait! http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/design/2013/11/APPLREND00.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgis Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Is that what I think it is? Large iOn Collider? Once they ramp up the energy, we all gonna be sucked into a black hole. 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkbabang Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 They should charter a flight to the moon and paint a giant apple logo which everyone sees during a full moon. Or they could build their own spaceship and... oh wait! http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/design/2013/11/APPLREND00.jpg I still think they should have shaped it as a giant apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 http://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/04/iphone-sales-overtake-android-q4-2014/ For the first time since 2012, sales of Apple's iPhone overtook sales of Android devices by a slight margin during the October to December 2014 period in the United States, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel (via TechCrunch). Apple's iPhone took a 47.7% sales share of the U.S. smartphone market while Android accounted for 47.6%, with Windows Phone accounting for 3.8% of sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 American Express ad showcasing Apple Pay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMw_rr3OYYw (always nice when others spend money on marketing your new products) Also: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgis Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 American Express ad showcasing Apple Pay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMw_rr3OYYw (always nice when others spend money on marketing your new products) There's tons of banks/CC companies that are advertising Apple Pay. It is actually annoying for me as their customer and shareholder, since they are spending money on advertising someone else's product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 American Express ad showcasing Apple Pay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMw_rr3OYYw (always nice when others spend money on marketing your new products) There's tons of banks/CC companies that are advertising Apple Pay. It is actually annoying for me as their customer and shareholder, since they are spending money on advertising someone else's product. The way Apple Pay is set up, banks and CC companies still get their cut, and might even make more money via a reduced fraud rate, so it's in their interest to advertise it (especially if it further replaces cash). CC companies probably also like that this further entrenches them against other payment systems that might try to bypass them (good luck with that). So don't feel bad, it's win-win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 "Apple just raised $1.35 billion of Swiss-franc denominated debt in two tranches (0.28% and 0.74% implied yields)" http://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2015/2/10/apple-is-getting-paid-to-raise-debt Functionally, Apple is getting paid to raise debt: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5446f93de4b0a3452dfaf5b0/t/54da3638e4b08d5aa768db72/1423586873779/?format=750w And of course, this doesn't take into account how the shares bought back might perform over time.. Or the fact that they're very very likely to keep raising the dividend over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Live stream of Cook speaking at the GS conference: http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/15pibuasfvoihbeafv02/event/index.html Update: That was a very good presentation to get a feel for Tim Cook (if you haven't already). It's clear the man is very genuine, no BS, extremely competent, keeps his eye on the important things and can ignore the noise. Certainly qualities I want in a CEO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Icahn has a new letter out about Apple: http://www.shareholderssquaretable.com/letter-to-twitter-followers-regarding-apple/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerscorecard Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Looks like the car is real. I'm not surprised at all. It makes a lot of sense. Cars are software-and-services-infused hardware. They are within Apple's focus. I am also not surprised that Apple is choosing to develop in-house instead of buy Tesla, as is often suggested publicly. Tesla isn't truly innovative or disruptive in how it thinks about the job-to-be-done of a car, as Horace has said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/02/01/apple-ranks-as-chinas-most-desirable-luxury-brand/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubsfan Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/02/01/apple-ranks-as-chinas-most-desirable-luxury-brand/ Good article - Important to remember, watch sales are not a big deal in North America, but in Asia they are. So while many are dismissing the impact of Apple Watch here - it may be a huge success elsewhere. And this luxury brand topic denotes pricing power - Tom Russo has the best definition of a luxury brand that I have heard: "It's something that you absolutely don't need, but can't live without". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgis Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Cheap, cheap, Apple watch, cheap fol you... 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palantir Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 I think this is a good fit. Apple isn't a truly innovative company the way Tesla is, and they're better at taking things others have done first, and improving them. In this case Tesla has already done the heavy lifting so it is easy for Apple to copy them and make tweaks. Improving it will be harder as Tesla has done so well already, but they can get around that by hiring away Teslas guys and their experience. As a shareholder, I welcome this development. I assumed they'd try to buy up TSLA, which I prefer, but this is OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 I think this is a good fit. Apple isn't a truly innovative company the way Tesla is, and they're better at taking things others have done first, and improving them. Yes, because nobody made electric cars before Tesla*. Apple is not truly innovative, sure, I can agree with that if you just redefine "innovative" in such a way that it doesn't include all the literally world-changing innovation that's been coming from Apple for the past 35 years, and voilà ::) * http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle#Early_history Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palantir Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 I think this is a good fit. Apple isn't a truly innovative company the way Tesla is, and they're better at taking things others have done first, and improving them. Yes, because nobody made electric cars before Tesla*. Apple is not truly innovative, sure, I can agree with that if you just redefine "innovative" in such a way that it doesn't include all the literally world-changing innovation that's been coming from Apple for the past 35 years, and voilà ::) * http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle#Early_history I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 I think this is a good fit. Apple isn't a truly innovative company the way Tesla is, and they're better at taking things others have done first, and improving them. Yes, because nobody made electric cars before Tesla*. Apple is not truly innovative, sure, I can agree with that if you just redefine "innovative" in such a way that it doesn't include all the literally world-changing innovation that's been coming from Apple for the past 35 years, and voilà ::) * http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle#Early_history I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve there? Is that really how you want to play it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainforesthiker Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Apple is the most innovative company I know of. Just think of their recent products, the track wheel on the iPod, iPod Mini and Shiffle, iTunes Store and App Store which created whole new industries, and the iPhone design, which was groundbreaking and immediately copied by competitors. I don't think you hit a nerve, but the statement that Apple is not innovative is so divorced from reality that I think a response was justified. That's why we are on this forum right? So we can learn from other viewpoints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Tim Cook speech on privacy: Apple is definitely the most privacy protective of all of the major OS providers. That's a competitive advantage for sure -- and a stance I philosophically agree with too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namo Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 While I agree with the stance, I don't see how it is a competitive advantage. Counterpoints: - Many, many people don't mind exposing some of their private life on Facebook - I believe quite a few Android users swear by Google Now (or did the name change at some point?), the app that pulls information about your trips, where you live, and so on, to suggest optimal routes/inform you about the weather/... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/shape-things-come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliG Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/shape-things-come Thanks for sharing. Reading the introduction made me realize that my Apple position is probably too large. I would hate to wake up to the press release of Ive's retirement. "In recent months, Sir Jonathan Ive, the forty-seven-year-old senior vice-president of design at Apple—who used to play rugby in secondary school, and still has a bench-pressing bulk that he carries a little sheepishly, as if it belonged to someone else—has described himself as both “deeply, deeply tired” and “always anxious.” He is now one of the two most powerful people in the world’s most valuable company. He sometimes listens to CNBC Radio on his hour-long commute from San Francisco to Apple’s offices, in Silicon Valley, but he’s uncomfortable knowing that a hundred thousand Apple employees rely on his decision-making—his taste—and that a sudden announcement of his retirement would ambush Apple shareholders. (To take a number: a ten-percent drop in Apple’s valuation represents seventy-one billion dollars.) According to Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs’s widow, who is close to Ive and his family, “Jony’s an artist with an artist’s temperament, and he’d be the first to tell you artists aren’t supposed to be responsible for this kind of thing.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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