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"Tim Cook cares a lot more about shareholders than Steve Jobs ever did" ... "If I had more balls I would short AAPL stock." Can you expand on this? Those s

by dmd 10y ago

"Tim Cook cares a lot more about shareholders than Steve Jobs ever did" ... "If I had more balls I would short AAPL stock." Can you expand on this? Those seem at odds to me.

skyyler 10y ago
Perhaps catering to shareholders isn't a good idea for Apple.
- bennyg 10y ago
  Shareholders should come second to product for Apple. Time and time again, when they focus and nail the product it translates directly to increased shareholder value. Trying to marginally increase shareholder value the way they have lately looks great in the short-term but hurts their brand specifically in the long-term.
busyant 10y ago
I think he's saying that focusing on shareholders is (counterintuitively) a bad sign for company health in the long term.
- xenobioticants 10y ago
  Didn't work out for Kodak, Blackberry or Microsoft. It's a very bad sign for tech companies.
martinald 10y ago
Yes, fair point, I was trying to say that rarely does focussing on short term shareholder value actually do that. Look at Steve Ballmer: delivered outstanding sales growth at the expense of basically missing every major play Microsoft should've made. An example: by killing off the lower cost MacBooks, students may end up not buying as many Macs (I would almost certainly have got a Windows/Linux laptop if the entry level macbook was so expensive when I was younger). They won't learn iOS development skills, since you really have to have a Mac to do that. Net result: I bet in ~3-5 years all the killer social media apps will end up on Android first. Back in the iBook/original MacBook era Mac laptops were actually about the same price as a comparable Windows laptop, plus they were WAY nicer. I even remember the first core duo macbook being the cheapest dual core laptop out on the market. I bet a load of people who now make iOS apps (me included) learnt because they picked up those machines because they were affordable and offered great value. While I am sure that the new Macbooks offer good 'value' if you like the touch pad, I don't think they are affordable at the entry level.

by dmd 10y ago

"Tim Cook cares a lot more about shareholders than Steve Jobs ever did" ... "If I had more balls I would short AAPL stock." Can you expand on this? Those seem at odds to me.

skyyler 10y ago

Perhaps catering to shareholders isn't a good idea for Apple.

bennyg 10y ago
Shareholders should come second to product for Apple. Time and time again, when they focus and nail the product it translates directly to increased shareholder value. Trying to marginally increase shareholder value the way they have lately looks great in the short-term but hurts their brand specifically in the long-term.

busyant 10y ago

I think he's saying that focusing on shareholders is (counterintuitively) a bad sign for company health in the long term.

xenobioticants 10y ago
Didn't work out for Kodak, Blackberry or Microsoft. It's a very bad sign for tech companies.

martinald 10y ago

Yes, fair point, I was trying to say that rarely does focussing on short term shareholder value actually do that. Look at Steve Ballmer: delivered outstanding sales growth at the expense of basically missing every major play Microsoft should've made. An example: by killing off the lower cost MacBooks, students may end up not buying as many Macs (I would almost certainly have got a Windows/Linux laptop if the entry level macbook was so expensive when I was younger). They won't learn iOS development skills, since you really have to have a Mac to do that. Net result: I bet in ~3-5 years all the killer social media apps will end up on Android first. Back in the iBook/original MacBook era Mac laptops were actually about the same price as a comparable Windows laptop, plus they were WAY nicer. I even remember the first core duo macbook being the cheapest dual core laptop out on the market. I bet a load of people who now make iOS apps (me included) learnt because they picked up those machines because they were affordable and offered great value. While I am sure that the new Macbooks offer good 'value' if you like the touch pad, I don't think they are affordable at the entry level.