Apple stock is down and concerns are high for many investors. Mark Hibben and Brian Bain discuss why the extreme negative market sentiment is way overdone and where investors can look to find an optimistic future.
Interview notes include:
• It’s possible iPhone unit growth isn’t happening anymore and investors should resign themselves to that. Either way, it seems the unit sales growth of 2015 is over due to the market being saturated.
• Things that will drive apple growth going forward will be services, other devices, wearables (watch, smart glasses), and increasing ASPs (average selling price) for the iPhone.
• Higher priced iPhones have more features and benefits so it’s not as simple as just raising prices. As value increases, price increases on iPhone.
• People don’t realize just how well wearables are doing (Watch and AirPods) and services are doing really, really well.
• Apple has a tremendous captive market of active device users they can sell services to and they are becoming a more services-oriented company but are still iPhone dependent.
Listen to the podcast right here:
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, an important point that’s missed by many: The current generation iPhones cost more because they do more. Much more. And that technology costs money to create, implement, and scale.
And, yes, Apple is ridiculously undervalued currently. AAPL is on a deep discount sale for the holidays.
In every other consumer electronics category prices have always trended down over time in both current and constant Dollars. Apple has been able to keep prices relatively high, but that was usually justified in the past- these days not so much.
Lets look at facts not rhetoric.
Apple’s gross margins have been more or less the same since Steve’s time untill now.
That says it all, period. ( public record… go check it )
All this talk about ‘Apple is greedy this, greedy that, pipeline this, pipeline that’ is just BS talk from the unseasonably disgruntled individuals.. and competition’s negative propaganda. Thats all.
Apple has been a higher priced brand and still is…. nothing has changed.
Plus
Yes, Old commoditized electronics or in general products becomes cheaper in time.
But Not New Cutting Edge Tehnology!
The massive R&D expenses both in product and production equipment …and ramp up cost dont just evaporate in thin air.
So lets stop this Apple bashing fad.
Apple has phones from 449$ to 1500$. Pick the one that offers the proper value proposition for you.
PS..
iPhone 7 128, when it was first released sold for 749$
2 years or so later it is selling for 449$..
As you can see in black and white ..the old got cheaper .. by 40 %.
So why are old macs with obsolete technology so expensive?
“facts not rhetoric” would be nice. Unfortunately this forum has an insane political bent that worships rhetoric over objective verifiable facts. You, sir, are one of the worst offenders when Majestic Donald News steers the subject to clickbait politics.
Yes indeed, consumer electronics should be trending downward in price and increase in performance. No need to look further for proof than televisions and PC Pro computers.
Alas, unfortunately Apple has a tech illiterate and non-visionary beancounter CEO that is ONLY interested in APPEASING the Apple BOD and Wall Street to keep his job.
The sooner he leaves, the better for the innovative FUTURE of Apple…
Lol.
“Captive Market”
Just what we users strive to be. Captive…
Will the happiness ever cease?
“Captive market” is a term used in the study and practice of economics, not necessarily a pejorative. Apple device users are “captive” by choice, since they choose the best personal computers, smartphones, tablets, operating systems, ecosystems, etc.
Not necessarily best for all, of course…
Examples include my new MacBook Pro, which required me to learn about (yawn) and buy connecting stuff, and that no elegant Cinema Display is available as a plug-in big screen (argh).
Ditching the lovely little SE (sigh) means I now have to buy a bigger and clunkier iPhone, which doesn’t fit in my smaller pockets.
Or
It would be better to use Apple and not be captive.
It’s a perjorative because it’s slanted to favor the Captor, not the Captured. Consumer choice is limited and manipulated in ways that limit the customer. For instance, playing nicely with other manufacturers (Homepod, Watch, Apple Pay, Curation, etc.)
I own every kind of Apple device except the iPhone. It’s the fishing net.
Sorry, too Stockholm for me.