4 ms·

Aren't Macs basically a rounding error for the overall company?

boringg 4y ago
And people don't need to replace iphones as much as they used to in the past... Still a formidable company don't get me wrong.
mproud 4y ago
Apple is virtually the only consumer computer company that has had positive YoY computer growth every year in the past 20 years. Apple is selling way more iPhones, but the Mac has been gradually and steadily gaining growth.
KptMarchewa 4y ago
Around 20% of what iphone makes - not the most important category, but not a rounding error either.
geerlingguy 4y ago
Their Mac business is still a Fortune 500 company in terms of revenue by itself. Besides Halo effect, they still make a ton of money off Macs, and now that their chips cross pollinate with the iOS devices, it makes no sense to kill it off.
- simondotau 4y ago
  Not to mention, the Mac platform is effectively the SDK for the iOS/iPadOS platform. And it's a thing which pretty much every single person who works at Apple uses on a daily basis. The Mac is not — I assure you — going anywhere.
  - shakezula 4y ago
    Especially not after they made this push into their own silicon where the majority of the benefits reaped so far have been in the Mac line.
- shanusmagnus 4y ago
  Yup. If for some reason Apple didn't make computers, don't think I'd own an iPhone -- the whole ecosystem fitting together is a major part of the appeal for me.
- dcolkitt 4y ago
  I don't disagree at all. But the context of the comment I was responding to was specifically about whether this would be enough to justify a high conviction bet on AAPL stock. Even if this model sells like hotcakes (which I'm sure it will), and even if that isn't priced in (which I'm less sure of), don't really see that having a large enough impact on overall earnings to move the needle on the stock. The reality is that small differences in the next Fed announcement probably will move AAPL to a much larger degree than this product.
ch4s3 4y ago
As others have said, it's about 20% of phone revenue but you need a mac to build an iOS app. THey're also selling a whole ecosystem that needs to be cohesive and technically strong. For a while the mac part of the ecosystem wasn't living up to the quality of the phones, IMHO.
- TheRealDunkirk 4y ago
  I've brought this up before, and someone responded that they'll move iOS app building and compilation into a web service, and they will no longer need to sell general-purpose computers, and the idea haunts me.
  - ch4s3 4y ago
    That feels like it cuts against the core of the f what Apple is, but it’s possible if Cook is succeeded by someone with no connection to old leadership.
    - hedgehog 4y ago
      They've built pieces of that already: https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/ https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/ I'm not personally very excited about living inside that sealed of a bubble.
      - b3morales 4y ago
        Even if that's their plan, it will be at least another decade before that service is viable to be a hard requirement, completely replacing local builds.
      - nostrademons 4y ago
        It's outsourcing a key part of the Apple ecosystem to Google (Chrome), which is why Apple will never do it. Big-tech companies go to extremely great lengths to own every part of the pathway from consumer to developer to hardware. Google first developed a browser, then an OS, then a hardware division just so Microsoft couldn't sit between Search and a microchip. Similarly, Apple has worked extremely hard to develop an App Store, IDE (XCode), and developer machine (Mac) so that neither Google nor Microsoft can come between them and the developer. Facebook is currently paying the price of not owning their distribution infrastructure - they've been hurt extremely badly by recent privacy changes that Apple and Google have put out, while Apple and Google themselves have been relatively isolated from them.
andruby 4y ago
Besides what other commenters mentioned, it is also the longest running revenue source for Apple.

And people don't need to replace iphones as much as they used to in the past... Still a formidable company don't get me wrong.

mproud 4y ago

Apple is virtually the only consumer computer company that has had positive YoY computer growth every year in the past 20 years. Apple is selling way more iPhones, but the Mac has been gradually and steadily gaining growth.

KptMarchewa 4y ago

Around 20% of what iphone makes - not the most important category, but not a rounding error either.

geerlingguy 4y ago

Their Mac business is still a Fortune 500 company in terms of revenue by itself. Besides Halo effect, they still make a ton of money off Macs, and now that their chips cross pollinate with the iOS devices, it makes no sense to kill it off.

simondotau 4y ago
Not to mention, the Mac platform is effectively the SDK for the iOS/iPadOS platform. And it's a thing which pretty much every single person who works at Apple uses on a daily basis. The Mac is not — I assure you — going anywhere.
- shakezula 4y ago
  Especially not after they made this push into their own silicon where the majority of the benefits reaped so far have been in the Mac line.
shanusmagnus 4y ago
Yup. If for some reason Apple didn't make computers, don't think I'd own an iPhone -- the whole ecosystem fitting together is a major part of the appeal for me.
dcolkitt 4y ago
I don't disagree at all. But the context of the comment I was responding to was specifically about whether this would be enough to justify a high conviction bet on AAPL stock. Even if this model sells like hotcakes (which I'm sure it will), and even if that isn't priced in (which I'm less sure of), don't really see that having a large enough impact on overall earnings to move the needle on the stock. The reality is that small differences in the next Fed announcement probably will move AAPL to a much larger degree than this product.

ch4s3 4y ago

As others have said, it's about 20% of phone revenue but you need a mac to build an iOS app. THey're also selling a whole ecosystem that needs to be cohesive and technically strong. For a while the mac part of the ecosystem wasn't living up to the quality of the phones, IMHO.

TheRealDunkirk 4y ago
I've brought this up before, and someone responded that they'll move iOS app building and compilation into a web service, and they will no longer need to sell general-purpose computers, and the idea haunts me.
- ch4s3 4y ago
  That feels like it cuts against the core of the f what Apple is, but it’s possible if Cook is succeeded by someone with no connection to old leadership.
  - hedgehog 4y ago
    They've built pieces of that already: https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/ https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/ I'm not personally very excited about living inside that sealed of a bubble.
    - b3morales 4y ago
      Even if that's their plan, it will be at least another decade before that service is viable to be a hard requirement, completely replacing local builds.
    - nostrademons 4y ago
      It's outsourcing a key part of the Apple ecosystem to Google (Chrome), which is why Apple will never do it. Big-tech companies go to extremely great lengths to own every part of the pathway from consumer to developer to hardware. Google first developed a browser, then an OS, then a hardware division just so Microsoft couldn't sit between Search and a microchip. Similarly, Apple has worked extremely hard to develop an App Store, IDE (XCode), and developer machine (Mac) so that neither Google nor Microsoft can come between them and the developer. Facebook is currently paying the price of not owning their distribution infrastructure - they've been hurt extremely badly by recent privacy changes that Apple and Google have put out, while Apple and Google themselves have been relatively isolated from them.

andruby 4y ago

Besides what other commenters mentioned, it is also the longest running revenue source for Apple.