Liberty Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-ordered-to-stop-sales-of-iphone-6-and-iphone-6-plus-in-beijing-2016-06-17?siteid=yhoof2 Apple ordered to stop sales of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in Beijing Pretty ridiculous. But saw this on Twitter: Today is triple witching day for AAPL options. Interesting timing for this iPhone 6/Beijing story (the original order was dated May 19th). Historically, I've looked at the pattern of negative AAPL news stories published on options expiration days as coincidences. This time..hmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCG Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 China is such a joke. I was unaware that China blocked iBooks and iTunes movies back in April as well. Icahn sold his stake in Apple due to this. Who knows whether they'll be able to sell the iPhone 7 there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 China is such a joke. I was unaware that China blocked iBooks and iTunes movies back in April as well. Icahn sold his stake in Apple due to this. Who knows whether they'll be able to sell the iPhone 7 there. Pretty much every big 'foreign' company gets squeezed in some way or other there. Ben Thompson is speculating that the Didi investment made by Apple was basically a forced investment, a price to pay to operate there. This makes me nervous too, but I don't think the price to pay will be as high as not being able to do business there. Just all kinds of annoying things like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpRaider Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Yeah, count me as not all that enthused about Disney's huge trapped investment in Shanghai (I guess all investments are trapped if you can't take capital out of the country). Seems to be a material change in a cat risk analysis of DIS to me. Couldn't apple just say, "ok comrade we're moving all production and assembly to Vietnam, Myanmar, etc..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgis Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 And the answer will be: "OK, Apple, you no longer sell phones in China". In Soviet China, there can be no iPhone. Only wePhone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 i think you guys miss the point. Both sides -are- constantly saying that to one another. This is the passive-aggressive language of geopolitics. Apple loudly explores producing phones in India, China builds some man-made islands in the South China Sea, etc. I think the general idea here that Didi may symbolize the sort of ante-ing up required by Chins is correct. It would be easy to take it out of proportion, though. Apple has to absorb the costs of different types of knee-bending at home. Think diversity initiatives, etc. the only concern should be if the state is effective/rational enough to make sure the pound of flesh it extracts is not unreasonable. It seems like every year there is some low to medium grade threat to Apple from some Chinese media. Should be considered par for the course for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgis Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I suggest China build iPhone part factory on the artificial island in the South China Sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I suggest China build iPhone part factory on the artificial island in the South China Sea. +1 Just wanted to throw something else out there based on how I've seen this court story "reported" on elsewhere (not so much here). It seems pretty common for western observers to interpret and describe everything that happens in China as reflecting some grand party strategy developed by Xi Jinping himself, dutifully carried out by his lieutenants, when in fact what you are seeing/hearing about may amount mostly to some hyper-local shakedown. This case looks a lot like that; more about Apple not navigating the court process well than reflecting any major antipathy. My view here is that the only thing that matters in the big picture for Apple in China is the prestige and value of the Apple brand in China. As long as that is high, it is a leash on what "the party" or anybody else can really do to Apple without undermining the reputation of the party (which is what really matters to them). That's why the most common (and most worrisome) attacks on Apple continue to be the semi-annual scandals that are covered by state-affiliated media. If and when those begin to have an effect, Apple becomes more vulnerable to other more overt business interruptions. Chinese citizens are decreasingly credulous about this sort of stuff, so unless Apple does in fact build factories in the nine-dash-line zone, or leave an offering of iPhones at some particularly offensive Shinto shrines, or something else grossly offensive to Chinese nationalism, I think they're going to be okay for now. As it stands, even if this court case were not overturned (or, "resolved" in a more shakedown-friendly way), it would not massively impact Apple's business. China does have a fairly well developed grey market and smuggling economy thanks to a half century of glorious socialism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fareastwarriors Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 China Bites Apple Beijing increases its harassment of the U.S. tech giant. http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-bites-apple-1466375218 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fareastwarriors Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Apple in Exploratory Talks to Buy Jay Z’s Tidal, WSJ Reports http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-01/apple-in-exploratory-talks-to-buy-jay-z-s-tidal-wsj-reports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oreo Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 If true - then I'm glad I'm not an AAPL shareholder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAiGuy Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Let's assume, for the sake of argument, the tidal rumors are true. Apple is most likely uninterested in the tech, and Tidal's subscriber numbers are not great. Tidal does have valuable business talent, and has been able to secure some exclusives, which might be interesting. Rationalizing the streaming space does have some strategic value, and if I had to guess, I'd guess Tidal is burning through cash, so who knows, maybe its a forced sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCG Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Or it could be admission that Apple doesn't know how to build a good streaming music product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCG Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Articles I've read say that Apple is interested in getting rights to artists that are on Tidal, such as Kanye West, Beyonce, and Madonna, but I'm pretty sure those artists went with Tidal due to relationships with Jay-Z. You buy Tidal and lose Jay-Z, and there's no incentive for them to stick with Tidal. I don't see what Tidal has that Apple can't replicate with Apple Music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAiGuy Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Articles I've read say that Apple is interested in getting rights to artists that are on Tidal, such as Kanye West, Beyonce, and Madonna, but I'm pretty sure those artists went with Tidal due to relationships with Jay-Z. You buy Tidal and lose Jay-Z, and there's no incentive for them to stick with Tidal. I don't see what Tidal has that Apple can't replicate with Apple Music. They get: Jay-z out of the business, or with them. The lack of major artists with an equity stake in a competitor? The goodwill of said major artists buy buying them out of their joker-esque bonfire of hundred dollar bills? (obviously, price matters a great deal here) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAiGuy Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Articles I've read say that Apple is interested in getting rights to artists that are on Tidal, such as Kanye West, Beyonce, and Madonna, but I'm pretty sure those artists went with Tidal due to relationships with Jay-Z. You buy Tidal and lose Jay-Z, and there's no incentive for them to stick with Tidal. I don't see what Tidal has that Apple can't replicate with Apple Music. My understanding that these rights expire on sale and would need to be renegotiated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCG Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 -Not sure what happened with the font there, but I fixed my post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fareastwarriors Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Apple Taps Bob Mansfield to Oversee Car Project Highly regarded executive helped bring to market many of Apple’s signature products http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-taps-bob-mansfield-to-oversee-car-project-1469458580 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fareastwarriors Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 http://investor.apple.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1628280-16-17762&CIK=320193 Apple ® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2016 third quarter ended June 25, 2016. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $42.4 billion and quarterly net income of $7.8 billion, or $1.42 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $49.6 billion and net income of $10.7 billion, or $1.85 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 38 percent compared to 39.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 63 percent of the quarter's revenue. "We are pleased to report third quarter results that reflect stronger customer demand and business performance than we anticipated at the start of the quarter," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We had a very successful launch of iPhone SE and we're thrilled by customers' and developers' response to software and services we previewed at WWDC in June." "Our Services business grew 19 percent year-over-year and App Store revenue was the highest ever, as our installed base continued to grow and transacting customers hit an all-time record," said Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO. "We returned over $13 billion to investors through share repurchases and dividends, and we have now completed almost $177 billion of our $250 billion capital return program." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glorysk87 Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Ahh, look at that growing stream of sweet, sweet high margin services revenue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 For those who like graphs: https://sixcolors.com/post/2016/07/apples-q3-in-charts-and-commentary/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerbaron Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Ahh, look at that growing stream of sweet, sweet high margin services revenue. Smoke and mirror buddy service is doing really well indeed but only a drop in a bucket in Apple's business product lines. BeerBaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fareastwarriors Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Apple’s Hard-Charging Tactics Hurt TV Expansion In search of its new big thing, the company has alienated cable providers and networks with an assertive negotiating style; ‘time is on my side’ http://www.wsj.com/articles/apples-hard-charging-tactics-hurt-tv-expansion-1469721330 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VersaillesinNY Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’ http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/wp/2016/08/13/2016/08/13/tim-cook-the-interview-running-apple-is-sort-of-a-lonely-job/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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