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Ppl always repeat the profit of Apple, but why? What exactly is that relevant to, unless you're a shareholder or Apple employee? Is it just a comment to indic

Ppl always repeat the profit of Apple, but why? What exactly is that relevant to, unless you're a shareholder or Apple employee? Is it just a comment to indicate that Apple isn't about to go out of business? To each his own. This is really the important statement. Phones are in a state now that I think we can actually have 3 viable OSes in the market. I know families where the dad has a BB, the mom an iPhone, and a child an Android (or Sidekick back in the day), and no one cares. It's not like PCs. When I go and look at a WebOS device or WP7 I'm not worried about the fact that they have small market share. For the most part it doesn't matter that much to me as a consumer. Sure WP7 only has 20,000 apps. But unless you're Robert Scoble, you'll be more than happy (and if you're Robert Scoble, apps don't even count until you hit 500k). It's a very different world, and I think we'll see things evolve quite differently.

YooLi 15y ago
"Is it just a comment to indicate that Apple isn't about to go out of business?" Partially, and partially to indicate that the way Apple is doing things must be at least somewhat right and sustainable. Why is it so hard for Android manufacturers to release updates for their phones? Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them. They make money on new devices sales, so they keep churning out more new handsets.
- kenjackson 15y ago
  partially to indicate that the way Apple is doing things must be at least somewhat right and sustainable. Just an odd concern for an end user, IMO. When I go to buy a car I don't look at the profits of Honda vs Ford. Sure you may not want a company that will go bankrupt, but even if they did the impact really isn't all that huge. Why is it so hard for Android manufacturers to release updates for their phones? Because they make deeply integrated skins. They have to reintegrate the skin with a new drop from Google -- not on their schedule, but on Google's (that's when customers start screaming for the update). Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them. They make money on new devices sales, so they keep churning out more new handsets. Everyone makes money on new device sales. The difference is if you get an iOS device -- Apple gets the profit. HTC/Samsung/Moto/LG/etc have to compete for the next sale, even if you've already decided it will be Android.
  - olivercameron 15y ago
    Of course you don't think about Apple's share of profit when you're buying the iPhone, but when you're discussing the iPhone's long term future, the fact it makes an immense amount of profit is very much relevant.
    - bad_user 15y ago
      To me, when discussing the long term future of an OS, a very valuable metric is how many companies are using it to build their hardware. Apple is ridding the wave, releasing kick-ass products one after another; but you never know how tomorrow will look like for Apple. On the other hand, if Samsung stops making Android devices or goes out of business, there are others to fill in. So it's not really so cut and dry.
  - YooLi 15y ago
    "Just an odd concern for an end user, IMO." About as odd as end users concerned about which OS has a more true multi-tasking implementation. Those who mention the profitability of iOS devices as a plus are probably about as numerous as those who mention multi-tasking. "Everyone makes money on new device sales." I think you misunderstood. I never said Android manufacturers aren't making money, I said they aren't making enough to support the device as long as people would like: "Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them."
    - seabee 15y ago
      "Those who mention the profitability of iOS devices as a plus are probably about as numerous as those who mention multi-tasking." These are both uncommon concerns, to be sure, but they're not both odd. The difference is that the former has no direct effect on the user experience, at best it's an enabler for continued updates. There might well be a use for the phone in which true multitasking is desired, if you need that use then wanting the feature is no more 'odd' than someone wanting a plumber's snake because they're a plumber.
      - 15y ago
AllenKids 15y ago
Because as a company profit is a very important goal if not the most important goal. RIM collapsed this quarter but for keen market watchers its fate was clearly shown when its profit per unite slipped with no significant unit gain. The same goes for Apple, when iPhone has to be sold at a discount but market share does not go up noticeably, Apple is in trouble. For now iPhone enjoys a better half of the entire industry profit while ARP goes up and defies seasonal fluctuation.
protomyth 15y ago
It's an indicator that a developer can sell premium programs. If they can make good profit the ecosystem could follow.
floppydisk 15y ago
The 40% is relevant because it means Apple is taking most of the smartphone profits and it's just one manufacturer. I think with the long term trends we will see Android gradually replace the dumbphone market. Low end hardware, fragmented versions across carriers, and low margins of return as time progresses. Apple is aiming at the upper end of the market and I think they're succeeding pretty well if the profit share is anything to by.

YooLi 15y ago

"Is it just a comment to indicate that Apple isn't about to go out of business?" Partially, and partially to indicate that the way Apple is doing things must be at least somewhat right and sustainable. Why is it so hard for Android manufacturers to release updates for their phones? Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them. They make money on new devices sales, so they keep churning out more new handsets.

kenjackson 15y ago
partially to indicate that the way Apple is doing things must be at least somewhat right and sustainable. Just an odd concern for an end user, IMO. When I go to buy a car I don't look at the profits of Honda vs Ford. Sure you may not want a company that will go bankrupt, but even if they did the impact really isn't all that huge. Why is it so hard for Android manufacturers to release updates for their phones? Because they make deeply integrated skins. They have to reintegrate the skin with a new drop from Google -- not on their schedule, but on Google's (that's when customers start screaming for the update). Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them. They make money on new devices sales, so they keep churning out more new handsets. Everyone makes money on new device sales. The difference is if you get an iOS device -- Apple gets the profit. HTC/Samsung/Moto/LG/etc have to compete for the next sale, even if you've already decided it will be Android.
- olivercameron 15y ago
  Of course you don't think about Apple's share of profit when you're buying the iPhone, but when you're discussing the iPhone's long term future, the fact it makes an immense amount of profit is very much relevant.
  - bad_user 15y ago
    To me, when discussing the long term future of an OS, a very valuable metric is how many companies are using it to build their hardware. Apple is ridding the wave, releasing kick-ass products one after another; but you never know how tomorrow will look like for Apple. On the other hand, if Samsung stops making Android devices or goes out of business, there are others to fill in. So it's not really so cut and dry.
- YooLi 15y ago
  "Just an odd concern for an end user, IMO." About as odd as end users concerned about which OS has a more true multi-tasking implementation. Those who mention the profitability of iOS devices as a plus are probably about as numerous as those who mention multi-tasking. "Everyone makes money on new device sales." I think you misunderstood. I never said Android manufacturers aren't making money, I said they aren't making enough to support the device as long as people would like: "Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them."
  - seabee 15y ago
    "Those who mention the profitability of iOS devices as a plus are probably about as numerous as those who mention multi-tasking." These are both uncommon concerns, to be sure, but they're not both odd. The difference is that the former has no direct effect on the user experience, at best it's an enabler for continued updates. There might well be a use for the phone in which true multitasking is desired, if you need that use then wanting the feature is no more 'odd' than someone wanting a plumber's snake because they're a plumber.
    - 15y ago

AllenKids 15y ago

Because as a company profit is a very important goal if not the most important goal. RIM collapsed this quarter but for keen market watchers its fate was clearly shown when its profit per unite slipped with no significant unit gain. The same goes for Apple, when iPhone has to be sold at a discount but market share does not go up noticeably, Apple is in trouble. For now iPhone enjoys a better half of the entire industry profit while ARP goes up and defies seasonal fluctuation.

protomyth 15y ago

It's an indicator that a developer can sell premium programs. If they can make good profit the ecosystem could follow.

floppydisk 15y ago

The 40% is relevant because it means Apple is taking most of the smartphone profits and it's just one manufacturer. I think with the long term trends we will see Android gradually replace the dumbphone market. Low end hardware, fragmented versions across carriers, and low margins of return as time progresses. Apple is aiming at the upper end of the market and I think they're succeeding pretty well if the profit share is anything to by.