Apple and Amazon reported “disappointing quarterly results in a sign that the global supply-chain crisis is hobbling even the mightiest companies,” Bloomberg News claims.
Matt Day, Spencer Soper, and Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, said its entire fourth quarter profit could be wiped out because of a surge in the cost of labor and fulfillment. Apple, meanwhile, said it lost $6 billion in sales because it can’t meet demand for its products, and could lose more next quarter.
But added together, the tech giants delivered a clear message to investors: This holiday season is going to be difficult.
“It’s going to be a rough holiday season for sure,” said Tuna Amobi, an analyst at CFRA Research. “Expectations are going to come down, across the board.”
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook told investors that sales would have been $6 billion higher without supply constraints — most notably, a lack of [legacy] semiconductors. Supply-chain constraints will make many of those items harder to get. Cook expects the problem to eclipse the $6 billion toll it took last quarter.
MacDailyNews Take: In actual reality, Apple posted an all-time September quarter revenue record of $83.4 billion, up 29% year over year – yes, a company Apple’s size grew 29% year over year. For the 2021 fiscal year, Apple reported revenue of $366 billion, representing 33% annual growth. For the 2021 fiscal year, Apple reported net income (profit) of $94.7 billion.
Apple’s quarterly income, fiscal 2021:
• Q121: $28.8 billion
• Q221: $23.6 billion
• Q321: $21.7 billion
• Q421: $20.6 billion
Total 2021 net income: $94.7 billion
That’s right, Apple made more in the last 365 days than Lockheed Martin, Dell, General Motors, Ford, or FedEx are worth.
And, yes, the various and sundry reactions, rational and irrational, to COVID-19, have caused all manner of supply chain disruptions worldwide. Shocking.
Apple’s holiday season is going to be so “difficult” that the company might only generate a $115+ billion in revenue in some 90-odd days, setting yet another new all-time quarterly revenue record.
Again, profit from irrational overreaction. This too shall pass.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
It’s better to lower expectations and then outperform.
Exactly, McFadski. When it comes to the bill we always lower expectations.
I don’t think people realize how bad the shipping situation is either. Combine that with electronics shortages and that could make for a dismal Christmas as well. I ordered a new MacBook Pro on Oct. 27. It won’t arrive until Dec. 14 – 21.
7 WEEKS just for bringing it up to 64GB of RAM.
I bought clothes and paid for overnight shipping, but it has taken over a week now and the items are still in transit.
Items I regularly purchase from the market are missing from the shelves.
A bit Venezuela-ish. Yet another sign of Biden’s America.
The ultimate point is you should be shopping for Christmas NOW.
No, this is a global issue
Let’s lift our heads up high, knowing that Christmas isn’t all about the gifts…just in case inflation continue to rise, currency continues to devalue and non-citizens may receive more money than many citizens make in a lifetime. A word from our leader brings context to what’s important. Please bow your heads and embrace profundity.
So, Apple didn’t meet expectations. What difference does that make? No matter how much money Apple pulls in, there will always be greedier investors and analysts who will simply set the bar higher each time. There are only a limited number of people on the planet who are going to buy expensive Apple products and they’re not going to be buying them every year. If there are analysts and investors who believe Apple can easily sell more products every year, they’re just greedy or stupid. It really doesn’t make any sense to me. Those investors who are always wishing for more will have to move to another company to get what they’re looking for. Apple is sure to run out of customers in another year or two. Those investors will have to look for some company that has far more growth prospects than Apple has.
Apple doesn’t even seem to have interest in growing much further. Take Microsoft. They’re always looking to acquire some new major business to increase revenue. Same with Amazon and Facebook. Those companies keep branching out and trying to widen their revenue base. Apple doesn’t want to spend much money on acquiring new businesses. I’m mainly referring to major acquisitions, like in the $20B range like other companies are willing to do.
Yeah, those poor Apple investors are upset because Apple couldn’t make that additional $6B due to supply constraints. Ain’t that a crying shame. What a laugh. I hope Apple bought back all those shares that the crybabies dumped.
Comments, not blog posts comrade, please.