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Relative to publicly accounted R&D costs, Apple has spent vastly more on buybacks than Intel recently. Why aren’t they victims of “financialization”?

SturgeonsLaw 5y ago
When they reach a stage where they're no longer releasing hit products, watch this space
plorkyeran 5y ago
Apple under Cook has done all the cost-optimization things you would expect a COO-turned-CEO to do, but thus far it doesn't seem to have hurt their ability to continue to innovate and produce new high-quality products. A possible answer is that Tim Cook is simply much better at it than most CEOs, and understand where he can get away with a focus on cutting costs and where he can't. It may also be that they've just gotten lucky, or that Apple just had _that much_ momentum that a decade isn't long enough to start seeing problems.
- oblio 5y ago
  The iPhone is one of those breakthrough devices that every person needs and probably needs to have on them at all times and they've converted that ubiquity into many adjacent markets. At this point the only way out for us, from both iOS and Android, is if they both miss the next big form factor, maybe smart glasses and AR/VR. Basically, the next OS.
- allie1 5y ago
  I am of the opinion it hasn't affected them YET. Just a lowly developer waiting for his MBP for over 11 weeks now, waiting for Intel's mobile Alder Lake to roll out so I can cancel my order and pick one up.
ksec 5y ago
It is not buyback is inherently evil or wrong. Surely we could all agree if your stock is trading at P/E 1 with no debt it would even make sense to take it private right? It is using cash as buy back while not giving enough budget to R&D or product improvements. Apple didn't do that. They invested accordingly and still had too much money and didn't know what to do with it. Although one could argue they could invest and bring even more value to their customers. But Tim Cook think those were better for shareholders. Compared to Intel, they stopped investing in foundries. Partly because of their 14nm were over provisioned and partly because of their broad. Along with their 10nm failures. It really was a perfect storm.

SturgeonsLaw 5y ago

When they reach a stage where they're no longer releasing hit products, watch this space

plorkyeran 5y ago

Apple under Cook has done all the cost-optimization things you would expect a COO-turned-CEO to do, but thus far it doesn't seem to have hurt their ability to continue to innovate and produce new high-quality products. A possible answer is that Tim Cook is simply much better at it than most CEOs, and understand where he can get away with a focus on cutting costs and where he can't. It may also be that they've just gotten lucky, or that Apple just had _that much_ momentum that a decade isn't long enough to start seeing problems.

oblio 5y ago
The iPhone is one of those breakthrough devices that every person needs and probably needs to have on them at all times and they've converted that ubiquity into many adjacent markets. At this point the only way out for us, from both iOS and Android, is if they both miss the next big form factor, maybe smart glasses and AR/VR. Basically, the next OS.
allie1 5y ago
I am of the opinion it hasn't affected them YET. Just a lowly developer waiting for his MBP for over 11 weeks now, waiting for Intel's mobile Alder Lake to roll out so I can cancel my order and pick one up.

ksec 5y ago

It is not buyback is inherently evil or wrong. Surely we could all agree if your stock is trading at P/E 1 with no debt it would even make sense to take it private right? It is using cash as buy back while not giving enough budget to R&D or product improvements. Apple didn't do that. They invested accordingly and still had too much money and didn't know what to do with it. Although one could argue they could invest and bring even more value to their customers. But Tim Cook think those were better for shareholders. Compared to Intel, they stopped investing in foundries. Partly because of their 14nm were over provisioned and partly because of their broad. Along with their 10nm failures. It really was a perfect storm.