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Posted on 01/24/2012 2:22:11 PM PST by PreciousLiberty
Bouncing back from a rare earnings miss, Apple (AAPL: 420.41, -7.00, -1.64%) revealed first-quarter results late Tuesday that crushed Wall Street’s expectations, as the consumer-electronics heavyweight continues to capitalize on huge demand for its blockbuster products.
Aside from announcing gigantic beats, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company reported all-time record sales for its iPhone, iPad and Mac devices as well as surprisingly upbeat guidance for the current quarter.
Wall Street cheered Apple's impressive quarter, bidding the company's stock 8.69% higher to $457.05 in extended trading.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
I can’t see myself ever purchasing an Apple product...I don’t even own a cell phone.
Never say never. They’re coming out with a nifty smoke signal kit and a working 4G telegraph set you can string between two houses!
Cook has been running the day-to-day operations of Apple for quite some time, if not necessarily officially, with Jobs' extended illness before his death. I'm not worried about the execution side of things.
The real question is whether Apple will continue to make the evolutionary leaps that have been the backbone of their success after the current pipeline of ideas peters out.
One thing is certain, though -- as long as its competitors continue to race to the bottom and place technical specs over user experience, Apple isn't going to lose its competitive advantages any time soon.
Biz as usual. I just think Apple’s in for another very good year.
“I don’t get the thrill of paying top dollar for tech. Perceptions are running the show here.”
Apple’s mobile products are all price-competitive with comparable items. HP cancelled its tablet effort when it realized its tablets were substantially sub-par compared with Apple’s, at the same price point.
Likewise, the iPhone is priced right at the same level as the high-end Android phones. Consider that Apple was the #1 worldwide buyer of electronics over the last year - that means Apple’s getting the best deals, and gets higher margins on essentially the same hardware. I believe Apple also has some other advantages like designing their own ARM CPU variants.
On the Mac side of things, it is true that Macs are priced higher than most PCs. There must be perceived value there though, since Mac sales growth is far outpacing the PC market as a whole. My take on that is the combination of Apple’s excellent OS and the added value of several great bundled apps like iPhoto and GarageBand makes a big difference. Not to mention that Apple’s hardware is top-notch.
It’s not the case that Apple tech buyers end up regretting their purchases - Apple products have many top customer satisfaction ratings. In particular the customer satisfaction level among iPhone owners is much higher than that for any Android phone.
I got out at $175, thought it was in nosebleed territory there. &%*@!!!;)
Your point about user experience is spot on. How many websites get the job done technically, but offer a horrible user experience? My understanding about Apple is that they cobble together existing technologies, in dynamic fashion and create new or vastly improved user experiences. The dynamism isn’t in Apple’s tech, but in their execution. If Cook is running with the ball and has been for five or more years then you’re correct about Apple being in great shape for the foreseeable future.
We’ve seen, though, other companies play the Q-results game. I hope the numbers are legit and like to see winners like Apple setting the pace.
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If you notice the recent Apple e-textbook announcement, you see that Apple has created a textbook authoring system to enable authors to port their text, video, and interactive functions to the iPad, and enables the student to not only view/interact with them but to append notes and gather those notes into summary form.
The authoring software runs on a Mac, and is free. The resulting eBooks will be sold thru an Apple store like the App Store or iTunes, for less than $15 per eCopy. Clearly the intent is that so much textbook content will be ported to the iPad that it will make it difficult or impossible to expect your child to get by without having his own iPad.
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