DCG Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 One thing that's interesting is that there are all of these comparisons on websites, but it doesn't seem them are comparing the previous Google Maps on iPhone to Maps on iPhone, they're comparing Android Google Maps to the Apple Maps App. Obviously Apple's isn't going to be as robust, as Google has been working on their Maps for years, but Google had really stopped updating the Google Maps app for iOS so this seems like a logical move for Apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 One thing that's interesting is that there are all of these comparisons on websites, but it doesn't seem them are comparing the previous Google Maps on iPhone to Maps on iPhone, they're comparing Android Google Maps to the Apple Maps App. Obviously Apple's isn't going to be as robust, as Google has been working on their Maps for years, but Google had really stopped updating the Google Maps app for iOS so this seems like a logical move for Apple. The app is just a client for the back-end which is on Google's servers. Google maps on Android and iOS should be functionally pretty much the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tng Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I don't think the maps thing is a big deal. There was antenna gate. And there was iPads overheating, etc. The new maps app is not that bad. Google maps is better, but it is far from perfect. If I follow Google's maps I'd occasionally go off a bridge or into a building too. Google pretty much forced Apple to make their own app when they refused to give turn by turn, started asking for a lot of money, and started injecting ads into the app. The Apple vs Google war is on and Google clearly wants the Android to be superior in this aspect. Stuff like public transit can be added in with a software update. Getting high quality map data will be more difficult, but I think there is a lot of demand for a non-Google solution now because Google is trying to monetize Google Maps and many companies are not willing to pay up (ex: Four Square decided to change maps too). I have always questioned Google's business strategy. Google has a bad habit of waging war with other tech giants and spending a lot of money in the process (and I don't think they get a reasonable return, if any, it's funded by their search/advertising product). I can see Apple striking back and turning Do Not Track on Safari, which would be a pretty big blow to Google, Microsoft is trying to do it on IE. Wouldn't it be crazy if Apple and Microsoft end up forming an unholy alliance and they team up on a maps project? Because Microsoft has been putting a lot of work onto Bing's maps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stahleyp Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Does anyone else think it's weird that apple's market cap is worth close to MSFT and XOM combined? ??? I believe those are the top 3 market caps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Does anyone else think it's weird that apple's market cap is worth close to MSFT and XOM combined? ??? I believe those are the top 3 market caps. \ I do. The only problem is timing the fall. History has shown time and time again that what goes up must come down, the only question is when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rimm_never_sleeps Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 the question needs context. did you compare the profitability? or just market cap? did you compare the balance sheet? or just market cap? the market cap of apple is massive because the profits are massive. the balance sheet is massive. the margins are massive. the growth is massive. market caps are nothing without context. having said that I would not buy it today. I would not short it today. the stock price is not expensive In Context. a stock like this back in mid 1990s would sell for 30-40 times earnings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bargainman Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Another thing to consider is that AAPL is now a significant part of the index, and index funds and especially ETFs are all the rage these days. As such AAPL will have to move with the index more now. The fact that it's got such a large market cap will likely affect the PE as well. It would take a lot of money to double the market cap from here for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uccmal Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Another thing to consider is that AAPL is now a significant part of the index, and index funds and especially ETFs are all the rage these days. As such AAPL will have to move with the index more now. The fact that it's got such a large market cap will likely affect the PE as well. It would take a lot of money to double the market cap from here for example. No kidding.... Buy an index fund and you get an automatic 5 percent or higher position in Apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stahleyp Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 the question needs context. did you compare the profitability? or just market cap? did you compare the balance sheet? or just market cap? the market cap of apple is massive because the profits are massive. the balance sheet is massive. the margins are massive. the growth is massive. market caps are nothing without context. having said that I would not buy it today. I would not short it today. the stock price is not expensive In Context. a stock like this back in mid 1990s would sell for 30-40 times earnings. Just market cap. I'm well aware that market cap alone is not a valuation metric when comparing companies. However, it does put things in context. When has the #1 market cap company exceeded (or at least close to) the other two largest companies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palantir Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Anyone have insights into Apple's efforts in cloud computing? Supposedly they're building out a lot of servers. In the future, with virtualization, Mac OS could be run on top of a virtualization platform, and has significant growth opportunity there IMO. Anyone have insight into growth opps there? To me it seems that: Phones: Strong position, but market could be saturated, unclear of how strong annuity stream is. Tablets: Dominant position in a growing market. Desktop/future Virtual Desktops: Growing position in a market. It seems to me that strong products in one area reinforce each other, and that Apple has good growth prospects in each space except for Phones. The only worry for me is, that this stock is so well known and followed....what insight can I offer that everybody doesn't know..... :-[ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giofranchi Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Some days ago bmichaud posted the link to an article by the Short Side of Long blog. I had never heard of that blog before, so I checked it out. What I found was a good analysis about precious metals and other macro economic topics. Today the following article about Apple was published on that same blog: http://theshortsideoflong.blogspot.it/2012/09/off-topic-is-apple-biggest-mania-of-our.html It doesn’t mean I agree with his thesis on Apple. 14% of GreenlightRe’s portfolio is currently in Apple and GLRE is my firm’s second largest position. So, I really hope his thesis is wrong! Anyway, watch the 1 min. video… it really is food for thought! giofranchi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Stunning... An important rule when investing: Never fall in love with the products of a company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giofranchi Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 An important rule when investing: Never fall in love with the products of a company. +1 That's another reason why I like insurance: there is really nothing to fall in love with! ;D giofranchi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19699632 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uccmal Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 An important rule when investing: Never fall in love with the products of a company. +1 That's another reason why I like insurance: there is really nothing to fall in love with! ;D giofranchi +10 I guess banks, phone, cable, and oil companies fall into the same category. But I do love my Exxon Gasoline..... :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 An important rule when investing: Never fall in love with the products of a company. +1 That's another reason why I like insurance: there is really nothing to fall in love with! ;D giofranchi +10 I guess banks, phone, cable, and oil companies fall into the same category. But I do love my Exxon Gasoline..... :P Just like Peter Lynch advocated. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobp Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Nokia is using the apple maps stumble to tout their own mapping. http://conversations.nokia.com/ They are, of course, having a hard time producing a phone. Still, I like nok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/early-adopters-experiencing-issues-with-apples-latest-iphone-5/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/iphone-5-a-little-bit-taller-a-little-bit-baller/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 GMs might actually be increasing: http://gigaom.com/apple/improved-iphone-5-less-expensive-to-make-than-iphone-4s/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 http://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/25/teardown-of-apples-a6-chip-reveals-manual-layout-of-custom-dual-core-cpu/ A6 might be even more custom than we thought.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 http://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/25/teardown-of-apples-a6-chip-reveals-manual-layout-of-custom-dual-core-cpu/ A6 might be even more custom than we thought.. People love to judge a book by its cover: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9231698/iPhone_5_geometrically_more_complex_than_older_Apple_smartphones_says_expert Boring update, Apple is not innovating, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffmori7 Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Tim Cook on Maps : http://www.apple.com/letter-from-tim-cook-on-maps/ Rarely seen Apple admitting some errors and refereing to competitors! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Tim Cook on Maps : http://www.apple.com/letter-from-tim-cook-on-maps/ Rarely seen Apple admitting some errors and refereing to competitors! Looks like Tim Cook's taking down the RDF with respect to maps. Nice to see Apple acknowledge how bad the thing is. I wonder how fanboys will spin this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Tim Cook on Maps : http://www.apple.com/letter-from-tim-cook-on-maps/ Rarely seen Apple admitting some errors and refereing to competitors! http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/28/apple-iphone-apologies/ Looks like Tim Cook's taking down the RDF with respect to maps. Nice to see Apple acknowledge how bad the thing is. I wonder how fanboys will spin this. The fanboys love it. It shows that Apple is not full of hubris and is aware of its shortcomings. It shows communicates honestly with its customers unlike most of its competitors. . It takes the wind out of competitors' efforts to take advantage of Apple's efforts. It also shows that Apple is in good hands after Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 It's not a crisis (& is not anywhere near the antenna issue). Aside from bloggers looking for a story, everyone I've talked to (and on other forums) has said the app works well so far. It's a crisis in terms of perception. Antenna gate itself turned out to be not a huge issue in the end. In reality, there are plenty of apps out there to fill in while Apple fixes its own app. However, every blogger out there knows Apple-bashing drives traffic, expect them to take full advantage of this. Apple invests a lot in its brand, so something like this is a big cost for them. Like I said, for Apple, this is a crisis. They value their brand the way Buffet values his reputation. Tim Cook coming out with the apology and referring to competing offerings shows this. They also have a section right in front of the app store with a list of competitor mapping applications. I was watching this whole thing to see if Tim Cook would manage it well. He did, with flying colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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