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Sure it means something, it means that Apple had a spectacular 2015. In 2001, Apple had revenues of $5.3 billion and a net loss of $25 million. 2014, revenues

by huxley 10y ago

Sure it means something, it means that Apple had a spectacular 2015. In 2001, Apple had revenues of $5.3 billion and a net loss of $25 million. 2014, revenues of $182.8 billion with $39.5 billion in profit. 2015, revenues of $233.7 billion with $53.4 billion in profit. 2016, revenues of $215.6 billion with $45.7 billion in profit. Apple's 2016 revenues shrunk in comparison to a peak year but it's still their 2nd best showing ever.

the_economist 10y ago
This is not telling the complete story. In 2016, Apple shrunk around 25% in China, after growing 100% in China in 2015. Something is very odd with their China business.
- mifreewil 10y ago
  I think you just agreed with the parent comment.
lern_too_spel 10y ago
Apple's revenues are shrinking in a growing market.
- huxley 10y ago
  Sorry, which market was that? The most generous reading is that the smartphone market has been flat. 2015-2016 has been really tough on most of Apple's smartphone competitors, it's been a moving window and it affected some sooner than Apple, but most of the incumbents have suffered. Xiaomi's revenue was down 38% over the summer. Samsung is doing better compared to 2015 which was a down year, but who knows what's going to happen after the Note 7 fiasco. Lenovo was down 19% in the first half of 2016. Huawei, Oppo and Vivo have done well in terms of capturing market share, but their earnings have been extremely dismal in comparison to Apple's, each of their smartphone revenues is closer to Apple's profit than its revenue numbers. Is the goal of growth to make money or to own marketshare? That's been one of the long running questions but if you look at who is in the top 5 smartphone companies over the last 5-7 years, Apple and Samsung are pretty much the only two that have stuck around, so long-term seeking of marketshare in the absence of profits hasn't seemed to pay off all that well.
  - lern_too_spel 10y ago
    Even restricting to the definition of their market to smartphones, you can see the market is growing. To have _shrinking_ revenue in this growing market is a bad sign. https://www.statista.com/statistics/412145/global-smartphone-sales-value-global-region/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/412145/global-smartphone... I define Apple's market more broadly as internet connected devices, which is much larger and poised to grow much faster than smartphones alone. That Apple's revenue is declining given this broad definition of their market is an even worse sign.

by huxley 10y ago

the_economist 10y ago

This is not telling the complete story. In 2016, Apple shrunk around 25% in China, after growing 100% in China in 2015. Something is very odd with their China business.

mifreewil 10y ago
I think you just agreed with the parent comment.

lern_too_spel 10y ago

Apple's revenues are shrinking in a growing market.

huxley 10y ago
Sorry, which market was that? The most generous reading is that the smartphone market has been flat. 2015-2016 has been really tough on most of Apple's smartphone competitors, it's been a moving window and it affected some sooner than Apple, but most of the incumbents have suffered. Xiaomi's revenue was down 38% over the summer. Samsung is doing better compared to 2015 which was a down year, but who knows what's going to happen after the Note 7 fiasco. Lenovo was down 19% in the first half of 2016. Huawei, Oppo and Vivo have done well in terms of capturing market share, but their earnings have been extremely dismal in comparison to Apple's, each of their smartphone revenues is closer to Apple's profit than its revenue numbers. Is the goal of growth to make money or to own marketshare? That's been one of the long running questions but if you look at who is in the top 5 smartphone companies over the last 5-7 years, Apple and Samsung are pretty much the only two that have stuck around, so long-term seeking of marketshare in the absence of profits hasn't seemed to pay off all that well.
- lern_too_spel 10y ago
  Even restricting to the definition of their market to smartphones, you can see the market is growing. To have _shrinking_ revenue in this growing market is a bad sign. https://www.statista.com/statistics/412145/global-smartphone-sales-value-global-region/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/412145/global-smartphone... I define Apple's market more broadly as internet connected devices, which is much larger and poised to grow much faster than smartphones alone. That Apple's revenue is declining given this broad definition of their market is an even worse sign.