“Apple’s quarterly numbers show positive Mac numbers, stable iPhone revenue, and a return to growing iPad sales,” Jean-Louis Gassée writes for Monday Note. “But the story that has grabbed the headlines is the growth of the Services business.”
“Services revenue for the last four quarters reached $27.8B, figuratively placing Apple’s Services 98th on the Fortune 100 List,” Gassée writes. “But the biggest misunderstanding isn’t the theoretical placement in the Fortune 100 list… it’s the consideration of Apple Services as a self-standing business. Remove “Apple” from “Apple Services”…would this stand-alone ‘Services’ company enjoy the same success were it to service Android phones or Windows PCs?”
“Apple Services is an important member of the supporting cast that pushes the volume and margins for the main act: Apple Personal Computers. These come in three sizes, small (iPhone), medium (iPad), and large (Mac). If rumors of the addition of a cellular modem true, we may even see the Watch, today an iPhone accessory, added to the cast as the newest and smallest performer,” Gassée writes. “Everything else that Apple offers has one raison d’être: Fueling the company’s main hardware act without which Apple is nothing.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hardware sells services, services sell hardware…
♬ It’s the circle of life! ♬
As we wrote in May, Apple’s Services business is a tremendous machine that hasn’t yet even begun to gallop.
SEE ALSO:
Dispelling the Apple Services myth – May 3, 2017
Apple’s Services business: $7 billion in revenue last quarter alone – May 3, 2017
Apple’s Services (App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay) business is an unstoppable juggernaut that’s still just gathering strength – May 3, 2017
MacDailyNews presents live notes from Apple’s Q217 conference call – May 2, 2017
Apple Q217 earnings beats on EPS, misses on revenue – May 2, 2017
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
I wonder why there were analysts who doubted Apple’s services revenue would be as valuable as Tim Cook said it would be. It’s as though they think everything Tim Cook says is some lie. I’m also sure I heard some analysts who said it’s not going to last. I would think the more Apple devices stay in service, it would be a steady cash stream lasting years. Apple hasn’t even started doing video streaming yet, which could really help boost services revenue. There are still going to be those knucklehead analysts who are going to say Apple’s services revenue is paltry compared to iPhone revenue which is just so damn stupid. Any additional revenue should be welcome to investors. Smartphones have to be the hottest-selling devices on the planet and no product can easily displace them in terms of revenue.
“I wonder why there were analysts who doubted Apple’s services revenue would be as valuable as Tim Cook said it would be”
That’s easy to explain, most (all?) analysts are unimaginative drones that follow each other in a circle like a snake devouring its tail.
Is that why you dropped out of the ring?