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> Apple said it would stop providing unit sales for iPhones, iPads, and Macs in fiscal 2019, a step toward becoming more of a services business. While some pund
by avar 8y ago
> Apple said it would stop providing unit sales for iPhones, iPads, and Macs in fiscal 2019, a step toward becoming more of a services business. While some pundits praised the move as a way to highlight a potent new business model, many analysts complained it was an attempt to hide the pain of a stagnant smartphone market.
Can companies just pull this sort of "yeah those numbers look bad, so we're not publishing them anymore" moves with impunity? I'd have thought this was something the SEC could step in to stop.
Is the only tool shareholders have to oppose this to vote in an entirely new board? Which of course won't happen for such a "minor" issue?
- oflannabhra 8y agowhat regulation forces a company to report how much it sells of X? Most regulation requires reporting around revenue, not units. As the article notes, Apple was unique in reporting unit sales at all.
- kodablah 8y ago> what regulation forces a company to report how much it sells of X? That's not what was asked. What was asked is if they can just change what they usually report because it looks bad.
- oflannabhra 8y agoSemantics, and the answer is the same. The parent was asking if the SEC could step in, and the only way they could do that is if government regulation has granted them purview and authority to. There is no such regulation.
- kodablah 8y agoI read it as asking whether the SEC could step in on misleading information disclosure change, not the information itself.
- guelo 8y agoI was wondering the same thing. What are the reporting requirements? How much flexibility do companies have?
- jsight 8y agoAFAIK, the SEC does not require publishing unit volume figures.
- GeekyBear 8y agoProviding both unit sales figures and revenue always made Apple something of an outlier. Microsoft has never provided unit sales or revenue figures for the Surface line. >Microsoft just closed the books on its 2018 fiscal year. As usual, it didn't break out unit sales or revenue for the Surface division https://www.zdnet.com/article/surface-by-the-numbers-how-microsoft-successfully-reinvented-the-pc/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/surface-by-the-numbers-how-mic... Google has never provided unit sales or revenue for their Pixel line. >unlike most hardware manufacturers, Google refuses to share official sales numbers for their phone. Instead, during earning reports they simply bundle the product under Alphabet's "Other Revenues", leaving us in the dark about how successful the product is. https://android.gadgethacks.com/news/rare-moment-pixels-sales-figures-are-revealed-0178148/ https://android.gadgethacks.com/news/rare-moment-pixels-sale...