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> one of the worst businesses in the world But is mobile telecoms really one of the worst businesses in the world ? I would argue that its one of the worst ex

> one of the worst businesses in the world But is mobile telecoms really one of the worst businesses in the world ? I would argue that its one of the worst executed businesses in the world, but not the worst business. Travel and hospitality would likely be fairer examples of "worst businesses", perhaps especially the airline business.

Spooky23 4y ago
People say this because accountants don’t like capital spending. Carriers have 50-60% gross margins. They are critical enough to get special tax treatments to deal with the capital expenses. If the goal is to make money, what would be the “best” business? Drug cartel?
- traceroute66 4y ago
  > Carriers have 50-60% gross margins Indeed. Many people don't realise how amazingly robust margins have remained. A lot of it is because its such a closed shop which is why they can get away with many things.
- specialist 4y ago
  Having done some contracting work for telecoms (seen how some of the sausage is made)... My hunch is they print pallets of cash, then use some large fraction for bonfires.
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
  Who cares about gross margin? EBITDA, Free Cash-flow, and Net Margin are what people care about - especially for a utility... What are good businesses? Apple... Saudi Aramco... Google... AWS...
  - anotherOneSound 4y ago
    nobody actually cares about margin. you can be entirely unprofitable so long as you show growth quarter after quarter. amazons margins are razor thin if not negative. tesla wasn’t profitable at all until EV legislation, and still struggles to be so
    - onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
      Apple's cell service network is pretty much tapped out at the total active iPhone MAUs... Sure, Apple's theoretical cell subscribers could grow a lot - but no one is going to care... It would be such a small part of the profits compared to hardware sales and other services - with a MASSIVE capital cost - probably much higher than phone R&D. It would be less capital intensive and possibly more profitable for Apple to manufacture their own phones than start their own carrier business... And that's a horrible idea, too... The idea of starting your own carrier business that isn't an MVNe is almost absurd. Why doesn't Tesla build their own roads while we're at it?
      - Spooky23 4y ago
        They thought about it! Remember the boring company?

Spooky23 4y ago

People say this because accountants don’t like capital spending. Carriers have 50-60% gross margins. They are critical enough to get special tax treatments to deal with the capital expenses. If the goal is to make money, what would be the “best” business? Drug cartel?

traceroute66 4y ago
> Carriers have 50-60% gross margins Indeed. Many people don't realise how amazingly robust margins have remained. A lot of it is because its such a closed shop which is why they can get away with many things.
specialist 4y ago
Having done some contracting work for telecoms (seen how some of the sausage is made)... My hunch is they print pallets of cash, then use some large fraction for bonfires.
onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
Who cares about gross margin? EBITDA, Free Cash-flow, and Net Margin are what people care about - especially for a utility... What are good businesses? Apple... Saudi Aramco... Google... AWS...
- anotherOneSound 4y ago
  nobody actually cares about margin. you can be entirely unprofitable so long as you show growth quarter after quarter. amazons margins are razor thin if not negative. tesla wasn’t profitable at all until EV legislation, and still struggles to be so
  - onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
    Apple's cell service network is pretty much tapped out at the total active iPhone MAUs... Sure, Apple's theoretical cell subscribers could grow a lot - but no one is going to care... It would be such a small part of the profits compared to hardware sales and other services - with a MASSIVE capital cost - probably much higher than phone R&D. It would be less capital intensive and possibly more profitable for Apple to manufacture their own phones than start their own carrier business... And that's a horrible idea, too... The idea of starting your own carrier business that isn't an MVNe is almost absurd. Why doesn't Tesla build their own roads while we're at it?
    - Spooky23 4y ago
      They thought about it! Remember the boring company?