Posted on 01/29/2015 5:20:24 PM PST by SamAdams76
Apple’s newest iPhone customers aren’t just old customers upgrading older devices – in fact, the vast majority are migrating from other platforms. Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that a large percentage of consumers buying iPhones lately are coming from devices that aren’t iPhones, and that most of those are shifting over from Android. This is potentially better news for Apple than its record-breaking 74.5 million iPhones sold during the past quarter, because it means there’s plenty of headroom to improve on that number in the future.
A lot of the apprehension that crops around Apple when it posts huge numbers like it did this past quarter involves analysts predicting it has or is about to reach a ceiling, but the way in which Apple is racking up sales is as important as how many it’s moving. Apple CEO Tim Cook has pointed to new markets with lots of consumers new to smartphones as key opportunities, and the company’s success in markets like Greater China has shown those sentiments to be true.
The size and shape of the emerging smartphone market is debatable, however, and partly at the whim of global economic climate shifts (and that’s doubly true when you’re targeting the rarefied higher end of the market). What isn’t as hard to pin down is the pool of existing smartphone users who own an Android device: It’s a huge market, one that we’ve spent the last few years watching as it grows.
Apple’s situation with the iPhone in some ways parallels what happened with the Mac: Cupertino led the way with a relatively successful early product before it ceded the majority of the market to a competitor and started making gains once again. The big difference is one of scale: iPhone was never on the ropes in the way the Mac was, and as a result the moment (now) when it starts bringing switchers back to its platform sees it doing so from a position of power. The Macs steady gain in the PC market, when applied to the iPhone/Android equivalent, could translate to huge sales volumes if Apple can continue to convince people to switch camps.
Nothing on the horizon would seem to indicate Android devices are on the verge of gaining any significant technical advantage over iPhones, and Apple’s pacing in terms of releasing larger-screened devices has clearly done a lot to trigger of users waiting for that feature on iOS hardware. And with Samsung seeming like a ship that may have lost its rudder, Apple may be fighting a battle without a truly organized resistance.
In summary, Apple is gaining marketshare over Android in the smartphone market. Apple's devices are far, far more profitable than the Android devices are. This is because Apple can command a higher price because they offer a superior product.
Apple is the company that just turned in the most profitable quarter of any company in the history of human civilization.
My Samsung Galaxy 4 acts as a remote for my TV.....well before anyone else offed this.
It streams 500 channels from my TV.
It was the first phone to multitask like a computer.
And it does this for less than an Apple. The only people buying iPhones are those who like to pi$$ away money.
I will be upgrading to the Samsung S6 this year.....waterproof and who knows what other features it will have that Apple will not?
Apple fanboys are delusional to think that competition will not overtake Apple.
Then why isn’t Samsung the most profitable company in the history of human civilization? That is, if they are better than Apple, as you attest.
Just wait.......
I have a Note 4. Great phone. I don't give a rat's ass about how Samsung does in business. Why does anybody care about Apple? If you're a stockholder, be realistic. Make your decisions based on what the greater fools are willing to pay for the Fed greased Apple financial paper. I don't get all of this autistic fanboyism. It's creepy. Really creepy.
I'm thinking there will be some surprises with the Apple Watch.
We will know for sure in a few more weeks.
Well now Apple has even outdone the hated oil companies and despite their enormous success, they have not dropped their prices one iota (nor should they). There are no discounts for the poor and disadvantaged. So anybody wanting one of their devices is going to have to pony up the full price.
You don't see many welfare bums toting around iPhones and MacBook Pro's. That's because, as generous as we are with doling out welfare, it's still not enough for the underclass to get Apple gear - unless they run a drug or prostitution business on the side.
So in essence, Apple is the epitome of the "cold, heartless, profit-driven" company with an insatiable desire to flood the planet with their goods and services at a premium price. And many of us conservatives and share holders love them for it.
Apple is doing great and contributing to an ETF we own, TDIV.
TDIV is a tech based ETF that churns out dividends and is fairly resistant to the market churning re bad news on whatever that is forgotten the next day.
However, Google and Android are doing just fine as per the article below:
http://www.cnet.com/news/android-shipments-exceed-1-billion-for-first-time-in-2014/
“Android shipments in 2014 exceed 1 billion for first time!”
That gave Google’s mobile operating system 81 percent of the worldwide market in 2014, compared with 15 percent for Apple’s IOS.”
So, both Google and Apple are doing just fine.
I get it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.