Posted on 12/26/2014 10:19:05 AM PST by Star Traveler
You knew this had to happen. While Samsung and other Android smartphone vendors bask in the glory of marketshare vs. Apple’s iPhone and iPad, it’s Apple that walks away with most of the profits. Without profits, tech companies have to tighten their belts, cut back on R&D (research and development), close stores, and reduce the product line.
Guess which high profile tech company is doing all that?
If you guessed Apple, you’d be so far off the mark that you’re probably in need of public assistance for watching too much Faux News and reading Business Insider. It’s not Apple. It’s Samsung.
The Korean giant’s profits have been on the wane for a year, matched in dropping velocity only by the mostly flatlined stock price. Samsung has cut back on the number of smartphone and tablet models, reduced spending, laid off employees, and now it’s in the process of shuttering a flagship store.
(Excerpt) Read more at pixobebo.com ...
That is why they really hate Apple.
“Eventually, even the Apple loyal will begin to realize that, they’re paying a premium price for what most others get at much lower prices. “
Apple users do get something of value for that premium price. And that is hardware and software that is tightly integrated and takes little time and effort to maintain.
I’ve owned both and use a Windows machine myself. But for family members who aren’t computer savvy the Apple is far less frustrating.
Reading freepers comments and reading the article are not the same, you imbecile!
Some of the real tech-minded people like the idea of “thinking like a computer” in order to use one (likewise with the phones). They like fiddlling, many options, having to fix things (this or that), fiddling some more, and doing all sorts of tech-stuff to it. That’s the mentality of many ... “think like a computer” in order to use one.
On the other hand, much of the consumer public doesn’t want to “think like a computer” in order to use devices. They just want stuff set up and ready-to-go. Now, Apple has accommodated itself to the consumer way of thinking about these things, and has tried to take away that “think like a computer” and all the “fiddling” that techies like to do.
That’s one reason why Apple has captured such a large market for their products, these days ... they try to set things up for you so that you can just use them. That very way of thinking (of how Apple does it) is a “disaster” in a “techie’s mind” you see ... and they hate Apple for it.
I think it comes down to ... do you want to have to accommodate the machine, or do you want the machine to accommodate you? Apple tries to make it so that the machine accommodates you (and not all the “techie-fiddling” that techies do).
I have a relative who was given an Andriod phone device, and probably with good intentions ... but she can’t stand it, can’t use it and finds it terrible. I find it terrible, too ... in looking it over. Of course, I’ve been used to the Apple way of thinking of having the “machine accommodate you” ... since the first iPhone out there (and even before that).
Good luck with that terrible device ... maybe someday you’ll be able to get an iPhone, which will be an absolute joy to use!
Many of them hate something in which they are not called upon to be the “gurus” for it ... any longer. When the ordinary person can “take control” over their own stuff ... that puts them out of the “guru business” ... :-) ...
The comments stem from the article, and are about the same ideas as presented in the article ... and especially the “faux news” that many refer to regarding Apple ... which really exhibit no understanding of Apple at all or Apple’s appeal to the consumer.
This thread is a microcosm of the very same thing that the article is talking about ... simply embedded in the comments ... that’s all ... :-) ...
Of the Android and Apple phones, I’ll take Windows any day. Best interface by far. Unfortunately, there aren’t any apps.
And the thing about being “computer saavy” ... is simply that the consumer should not have to be computer saavy. I’ve always thought that the computer (or other device, like iOS devices) should be smart enough in their construction and interface and usage and with the programmers working with it ... to make it so that the consumer doesn’t have to know a single thing about computers or “computer-think”.
We still haven’t gotten there yet, even with Apple trying diligently to do so. At least Apple is trying, whereas other computers figure that the consumer “must” be computer saavy ... or at least hire a computer saavy person to help them.
Hooray for Apple in going in the right direction ... for the consumer! They are to be commended!
You sound like one of the “techies” and “fiddlers” ... who enjoy such things ... :-) ...
Yeah, I want it easy and ready to go. I have a miniMac on my desk but am on my daughter’s family plan so the Samsung and monthly service are free to me. Gotta figure it out. She’s coming over tomorrow with “Samsung Galaxy5 for Dummies.” All this to make a phone call, send a text?
FACEPALM should be Galaxy5 logo.
For those who want another source for a similar type of article about Apple and its sustainable profits!
Another Way Apple Inc. Trounces Competitors: Sustainable Smartphone Profits
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/12/26/another-way-apple-inc-trounces-competitors-sustain.aspx
Some investors have argued that Apple’s high-end pricing strategy is unsustainable. Competitors such as Xiaomi and Samsung have gained market share by broadening their product portfolio and offering lower-priced devices.
But those market share gains have not translated into profit share gains. Even Xiaomi — which aims to turn profits by selling high-margin accessories, apps, themes, and other services — just revealed in a regulatory filing that its margins are miserable. Last year, the Chinese company turned an operating margin of just 1.8%.
Meanwhile, Samsung saw its mobile division’s operating margin decline to 18.7% last year, as its high-end phones are overshadowed by its mid-to-low-end devices. Comparatively, Apple posted an overall operating margin of 28.7% for fiscal 2014, and its iPhone units typically carry higher margins than all of its other products.
All about the bottom line
Xiaomi has been wildly successful selling phones in 2014. Last quarter, the company became the third-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world and overtook Samsung as the largest smartphone maker in China, with 14% of market share in that country in the second quarter.
Xiaomi’s triple-digit unit sales growth this year may help its operating margins as it capitalizes on production efficiencies and sells more software and accessories. Still, it’s hard to see it climbing higher than the low single digits.
Those sales increases have directly cut into sales of Samsung’s high-end smartphone devices. Galaxy S5 sales are lagging its predecessor by 50% over the first six months of sales in China — the company’s second-largest market. As a result, the company has had to spend additional marketing dollars to help unload a surplus of units. The impact is clearly visible on the mobile division’s dwindling operating margin.
Last quarter, Samsung reported an operating margin of just 7.1%. That’s a huge decline after 10 straight quarters of 15%-plus operating margin for the division.
So how has Apple performed in China?
With Samsung struggling to sell its high-end devices, one might assume Apple is facing similar issues in light of the low-margin high-end competition from Xiaomi. But Apple continues to prove those assumptions wrong, as the company grew iPhone unit sales 32% in Greater China last quarter despite not launching the iPhone 6 in China until the current quarter. (The iPhone 5s launched at the very end of Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter of 2013, making that growth even more impressive.)
[ ... click the link to see the rest of the article ... ]
Another imbecile...
So your opinion is that the comments are essentially the same as the article and in a way reinforce it. I found most of them to be the opposite and reinforce my opinion.
If one is following the comments, they’re following the article, as the discussion revolves around the subject matter of the article. That shouldn’t be hard to understand ... :-) ...
Participating in bashing the article, which was what I was doing, isn’t the same as “following it”. A follower is someone who agrees with the thing he’s following. Capisce?
I’m using “following it” as in any capacity ... if you’re here ... you’re following it.
Well you’re using the term incorrectly - for example this inane discussion you and I are having has nothing to do with the article, so how am I currently “following it” by the fact that this post appears in that thread?
I’m totally missing your point. Are you saying that I should not have commented on the article after I determined that it was written by some liberal hack?
I like my Samsung. I got it at the time because of the bigger screen. Seems that I’ve started seen Apples with the same sized screen. I assume they’re just as good or better. There’s a piece of me wishes we still all had land lines, only in our homes, and a big phone book to look up numbers. It was harder to reach me then. A good thing, I’m thinking.
No, you didn't. You said he was a monopolist. I called you on it. No you're backpedalling on it. . . trying to justify your fallacious position. You don't have a clue what a monopoly is.
Hate sucks doesn't it.
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