“Never before has this venerable company, which at age 34 is a grizzled veteran by Silicon Valley standards, stood so firmly atop the high-tech industry. Earlier this year, Apple’s market capitalization surpassed that of Microsoft, making it the most valuable property in the tech universe. And during its just-completed fiscal year, it broke four consecutive quarterly revenue and profit records,” Boudreau reports. “Amid the worst recession in decades, Apple hired thousands while others cut jobs.”
“But what most distinguishes Apple is the way it has climbed these heights,” Boudreau reports. “While other tech titans spent 2010 cutting costs and acquiring new technology through mergers, this $65 billion company is innovating like a startup… Its iPhone revolutionized the market for smartphones, the must-have product of the decade. Its iPad is now creating consumer electronics’ most promising new market, for tablet computers.”
Boudreau reports, “The pace of hiring accelerated during the company’s fiscal 2010, which ended Sept. 25. Over the preceding four quarters, it added 12,300 employees, raising its number of full-time workers to 46,600, a 36 percent jump. In the same period, Apple’s R&D spending soared 38 percent and it opened 44 new retail stores, ending the year with a total of 317 outlets… During its just-completed fourth quarter, Apple reported a 27 percent jump in the number of Macintosh computers it sold — out-sprinting the PC industry, which recorded a 7.6 percent increase globally. The soaring popularity of its desktops and laptops is tied to what analysts call the “halo” effect — people fall in love with another Apple product, such as the iPhone, then fall in love with its computers.”
Read more in the full article here.
@ Derek Currie
Is that the same Sung Won Sohn who was a bank economist in Minneapolis, Minnesota for years? If so, very dour personality. I never knew where he ended up, I thought it was Wells Fargo on the west coast or the federal reserve
Derek, you’ve been around here a long time, but you need to lighten up a little so you don’t become depressed.
@iworker
Sound reasoning. Tack on the fact that the middle class has been decimated over the past several decades by the loss of manufacturing jobs in the U.S., and there is yet another reason why our economy is having difficulty creating jobs. Job growth will be slow for quite a while, in my opinion, no matter how much stimulus is applied. The U.S. economy was dependent on heavy consumer spending – every penny earned and every penny that could be borrowed at historically low interest rates – and the government cannot make up for the fact that people are learning (at last) to live with a bit less.
The lessons from the Great Depression lasted a lifetime. My parents shunned debt and we seldom bought new things (and never new cars). How long will this lesson last, I wonder?
“The soaring popularity of its desktops and laptops is tied to what analysts call the “halo” effect — people fall in love with another Apple product, such as the iPhone, then fall in love with its computers.”
This was the call I made in June, 2007, about 3weeks before the original iPhone launch. I made the recommendation to acquire Apple shares at what the investor group I was working with thought of as a quite lofty price if just over $120. Last I checked, they were glad they followed my recommendation.
There’s still room. The iPad will add significant demand for Macs, and CPU sales will drive the stock higher, though at a less frenzied pace than we’ve seen in 2010.
“The soaring popularity of its desktops and laptops is tied to what analysts call the “halo” effect — people fall in love with another Apple product, such as the iPhone, then fall in love with its computers.”
There is more than the mystical halo effect. People begin to realise that Apple products have a great resale value. Meaning, you buy a MacBook for €999.- and three years later it’s still worth €500.-. My late 2006 iMac 20″ made €520 on ebay just last week, down €600 in four years. In its stead, I bought a refurb 21.5″ iMac for €969, meaning I paid €449 for four years of computer usage (with not a single crash :o). Those are the hard numbers, and no box juggler can match them.