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It's a growth issue. Apple has done very well with Wall Street with devices in the last two decades, but Wall Street is an insatiable monsters always demanding
by sircastor 3y ago
It's a growth issue. Apple has done very well with Wall Street with devices in the last two decades, but Wall Street is an insatiable monsters always demanding more growth. Apple doesn't need to pivot, because they've got a tremendously successful device business. But they do need to expand to feed the monster.
Services (Content, iCloud, Fitness+, etc) are just one approach. They're trying AR (Reality Pro), Cars maybe?
- delish 3y ago>But they do need to expand to feed the monster. Take that as given, it still doesn't explain why, among all business opportunities, Apple picked 1 An area they had little experience in 2 That already serves its customers well 3 That is according to OP low margin. On (2): Cell phones in 2005 were way worse than Netflix, HBO, ESPN were when Apple would have been market-researching Apple TV+.
- sircastor 3y agoAt the very least, the entertainment industry was familiar. They were already into the music scene for ~20 years, and had been cutting television content deals for about 15. It's not unreasonable to say that they knew some people they trusted whom they could hire to make it happen.
- nequo 3y agoProducts also have lifecycles. What is profitable now won’t be as profitable in 10 years if at all. iPhones seem to have plateaued for example, there’s not much change from 13 to 15, so there’s less incentive to buy one. So Apple does well to try and stay ahead of the curve. Apple TV+ has never seemed like a core product to me though, just something they can bundle with iPhones and iPads to round out those products.
- jcpst 3y agoI use a SE 2020. I thought about getting a 14 when they introduced the “satellite phone” feature. Also thought about getting a 15 because it supports recording LOG video files. My point is I’m not so sure it’s plateaued- I don’t buy them as often because I don’t like replacing things that still work, but they do keep adding more features that I’d be interested in. (And removing some, like headphone jacks and buttons)
- bentcorner 3y agoI kind of wish businesses were like Unix command line tools. Do one thing and do it well. In the future if your email service suspects you of being a spammer you will no longer be welcome at your local grocery store.
- humanrebar 3y agoIn that reality, what is the real life analog of TTY logic? What about whitespace escaping? Point being, the Unix philosophy has its own issues, especially around the foundations of how it all glues together.
- hef19898 3y agoI don't think Apple, or any other cmpany to be honest, tech or not, needs "evil Wall Street" to put profit above everything else or be incredibly greedy.
- kube-system 3y agoThe demands of wall street are infamous for being the difference between sustainably profitable and demanding growth at the detriment of other guiding principles If you look at any lists of largest private companies, you’ll see many that are likely highly profitable but also very boring stay-in-their-lane type of businesses; businesses that know their cash cow and sticks to it. It’s Wall Street investment that tends to drives risky moves in pursuit of growth.
- dartos 3y agoYou’re right about profit. Every company wants profit. Wall Street doesn’t care that much about profit. They care about growth. Any action that will raise the stock price, even at the cost of customers or profit, is a win in their book. After all, they’ll sell just before the party is over and make out like robber barons.
- hef19898 3y agoSo it was evil wall streetvthat pushed innocent tech companies to pursue quasi monopolies insted of simple greed? I don't buy that narrative.