3 ms·

When are these publications going to figure out that volume shipped vs Apple is a pointless milestone? I'm interested in margins and revenues, but not units shi

by nihonde 10y ago

When are these publications going to figure out that volume shipped vs Apple is a pointless milestone? I'm interested in margins and revenues, but not units shipped.

bryanlarsen 10y ago
As an Apple shareholder I care about revenues, but as a user and software dev, the metric that really matters is ecosystem size.
- acdha 10y ago
  You usually need more detail than that because the ecosystem isn't uniform: if you sell games it doesn't matter that 200M people have a mid-range Windows PC at work; if you sell professional software the $400 laptop owner segment is probably irrelevant; someone who works on public websites or education has to support almost everything to avoid lawsuits, etc.
dingaling 10y ago
> I'm interested in margins and revenues, but not units shipped. In that case Panasonic's Toughbooks would be the clear winner in the general-market space. Their low-end 'business rugged' laptops start at £1800 for an i5 spec... though with a three-year warranty. Once you move into specialist fields such as mediical and defence there are vendors whose laptops have margins that would make Apple cry, but who 'earn' those through jumping through many many regulatory hoops. Dell played-around in that space in the late 2000s, their mil-cert laptops started around $5000 with standard Latitude innards.
- protomyth 10y ago
  > but who 'earn' those through jumping through many many regulatory hoops They also earn it by knowing that those niches are willing to pay and normal computers can be problematic to an outright danger[1]. If you happen to have an employee that is a bit "rough" with their notebook and is a Windows user, a Panasonic Toughbook is a great buy. They are built like tanks and Panasonic knows their users. Also, if you have a dust or grain dust[2] environment, you most definitely should buy medical computers. We have a carpentry area that needs computers and the sealed medical computers are perfect. I use http://www.cybernetman.com http://www.cybernetman.com because I like the reps. 1) having a sealed computer that you can wipe down with Lysol is an amazing benefit for a hospital setting. 2) do not f around with normal computers in a grain dust environment unless you like fires and explosions. You want to take precautions to get proper clean airflow or use sealed computers.
SamUK96 10y ago
True. Apple makes a disgustingly large margin on each, so I suppose less volume doesn't neccessarily mean less revenue. Having said that, decreasing volume, something which is now never-ending for Apple in the last few quarters, consecutively, is a marker for doom, or at least the end of life of the product line. When you're selling less and less, you can't keep revenues up by just increasing the margin on each unit forever. It's unsustainable and unstable.
JustSomeNobody 10y ago
These publication rely on getting people to actually read their content. Of course they'll always write articles like this.
- tunap 10y ago
  Exactly my thought seeing( not reading) the ubiquitous "MS is the new Apple" articles of late. edit: early morning post needed clarity.
pawadu 10y ago
Because ASUS used to be pretty big before the post-PC dip. This only shows that they are regaining lost ground (or Apple is having problems, take your pick). Also as an ordinary person why would you be interested "margins and revenues"?

by nihonde 10y ago

When are these publications going to figure out that volume shipped vs Apple is a pointless milestone? I'm interested in margins and revenues, but not units shipped.

bryanlarsen 10y ago

As an Apple shareholder I care about revenues, but as a user and software dev, the metric that really matters is ecosystem size.

acdha 10y ago
You usually need more detail than that because the ecosystem isn't uniform: if you sell games it doesn't matter that 200M people have a mid-range Windows PC at work; if you sell professional software the $400 laptop owner segment is probably irrelevant; someone who works on public websites or education has to support almost everything to avoid lawsuits, etc.

dingaling 10y ago

> I'm interested in margins and revenues, but not units shipped. In that case Panasonic's Toughbooks would be the clear winner in the general-market space. Their low-end 'business rugged' laptops start at £1800 for an i5 spec... though with a three-year warranty. Once you move into specialist fields such as mediical and defence there are vendors whose laptops have margins that would make Apple cry, but who 'earn' those through jumping through many many regulatory hoops. Dell played-around in that space in the late 2000s, their mil-cert laptops started around $5000 with standard Latitude innards.

protomyth 10y ago
> but who 'earn' those through jumping through many many regulatory hoops They also earn it by knowing that those niches are willing to pay and normal computers can be problematic to an outright danger[1]. If you happen to have an employee that is a bit "rough" with their notebook and is a Windows user, a Panasonic Toughbook is a great buy. They are built like tanks and Panasonic knows their users. Also, if you have a dust or grain dust[2] environment, you most definitely should buy medical computers. We have a carpentry area that needs computers and the sealed medical computers are perfect. I use http://www.cybernetman.com http://www.cybernetman.com because I like the reps. 1) having a sealed computer that you can wipe down with Lysol is an amazing benefit for a hospital setting. 2) do not f around with normal computers in a grain dust environment unless you like fires and explosions. You want to take precautions to get proper clean airflow or use sealed computers.

SamUK96 10y ago

True. Apple makes a disgustingly large margin on each, so I suppose less volume doesn't neccessarily mean less revenue. Having said that, decreasing volume, something which is now never-ending for Apple in the last few quarters, consecutively, is a marker for doom, or at least the end of life of the product line. When you're selling less and less, you can't keep revenues up by just increasing the margin on each unit forever. It's unsustainable and unstable.

JustSomeNobody 10y ago

These publication rely on getting people to actually read their content. Of course they'll always write articles like this.

tunap 10y ago
Exactly my thought seeing( not reading) the ubiquitous "MS is the new Apple" articles of late. edit: early morning post needed clarity.

pawadu 10y ago

Because ASUS used to be pretty big before the post-PC dip. This only shows that they are regaining lost ground (or Apple is having problems, take your pick). Also as an ordinary person why would you be interested "margins and revenues"?