6 ms·

What services is Apple is?

by m0th87 12y ago

kenjackson 12y ago
ITunes, AppStore, iCloud, to name a few.
- testrun 12y ago
  Argument can be made that iTunes, Appstore, iCloud is to lock in the hardware (iPhone, iPad, Mac).
ekianjo 12y ago
Apple is a service company. You buy Apple hardware to get access to their services, which are usually exclusive to the platform.
- ben336 12y ago
  They make their money off the hardware though. And plenty of people use Apple hardware without using Apple services. I have an iPhone/iPad/Mac, and don't use Apple services for email/document/storage/photo backup etc. I appreciate their OS software and hardware, but for the most part think there are better options for pretty much all of their services.
  - ekianjo 12y ago
    Does not matter. When you buy an Apple product, you are basically supporting their services as well. And as far as I know, you are more or less forced to have an iTune account if you have an Apple device, right ? So you are tied in to their services at least for the distribution of applications (on mobiles).
    - untog 12y ago
      You can't say "where they make their money" doesn't matter. Of course it does. An iTunes account is required for App Store purchases, but that's about it. You can load on Google e-mail, maps and browser after that, if you wish. The point is that Apple doesn't make money from its services, so it has less of an incentive to stop you.
      - ekianjo 12y ago
        ITunes is a distribution service. They make money off it. It's like saying "Valve is just doing games" where most of their money comes from selling the contents of others. When you have a monopoly on distribution on a specific platform, that's a service where people are locked into using. I don't know how to explain it in any other way to you.
        untog 12y ago
        No-one is arguing that they make money from it. Nor is anyone arguing that Apple doesn't do services. They are arguing that they make far more money on hardware sales than services, and thus are primarily a hardware company.
        ekianjo 12y ago
        Do you have any source such as the latest annual report as to how much more they make on hardware vs software/content? Is it really far more ?
        neolefty 12y ago
        From their Q4 results, as analyzed by AnandTech, about 11% of their revenue is from "iTunes/Software/Services". The rest is hardware. http://www.anandtech.com/show/8633/apple-q4-fy-2014-fiscal-results-18-mac-growth-and-record-iphone-sales http://www.anandtech.com/show/8633/apple-q4-fy-2014-fiscal-r...
        cwyers 12y ago
        Except they're tied. The way you get Apple services is buying Apple hardware. You can't buy most Apple services separately from Apple hardware, and you don't get charged for many Apple services aside from the purchase price of the hardware. The debate over whether Apple makes money off hardware or software is ridiculous. Every iPhone contains both Apple hardware and software, and works in concert with Apple services, designed to be a cohesive whole. It's ONE experience, designed top to bottom to work together. That's Apple's entire value proposition.

What services is Apple is?

by m0th87 12y ago

What services is Apple is?

kenjackson 12y ago

ITunes, AppStore, iCloud, to name a few.

testrun 12y ago
Argument can be made that iTunes, Appstore, iCloud is to lock in the hardware (iPhone, iPad, Mac).

ekianjo 12y ago

Apple is a service company. You buy Apple hardware to get access to their services, which are usually exclusive to the platform.

ben336 12y ago
They make their money off the hardware though. And plenty of people use Apple hardware without using Apple services. I have an iPhone/iPad/Mac, and don't use Apple services for email/document/storage/photo backup etc. I appreciate their OS software and hardware, but for the most part think there are better options for pretty much all of their services.
- ekianjo 12y ago
  Does not matter. When you buy an Apple product, you are basically supporting their services as well. And as far as I know, you are more or less forced to have an iTune account if you have an Apple device, right ? So you are tied in to their services at least for the distribution of applications (on mobiles).
  - untog 12y ago
    You can't say "where they make their money" doesn't matter. Of course it does. An iTunes account is required for App Store purchases, but that's about it. You can load on Google e-mail, maps and browser after that, if you wish. The point is that Apple doesn't make money from its services, so it has less of an incentive to stop you.
    - ekianjo 12y ago
      ITunes is a distribution service. They make money off it. It's like saying "Valve is just doing games" where most of their money comes from selling the contents of others. When you have a monopoly on distribution on a specific platform, that's a service where people are locked into using. I don't know how to explain it in any other way to you.
      - untog 12y ago
        No-one is arguing that they make money from it. Nor is anyone arguing that Apple doesn't do services. They are arguing that they make far more money on hardware sales than services, and thus are primarily a hardware company.
        ekianjo 12y ago
        Do you have any source such as the latest annual report as to how much more they make on hardware vs software/content? Is it really far more ?
        neolefty 12y ago
        From their Q4 results, as analyzed by AnandTech, about 11% of their revenue is from "iTunes/Software/Services". The rest is hardware. http://www.anandtech.com/show/8633/apple-q4-fy-2014-fiscal-results-18-mac-growth-and-record-iphone-sales http://www.anandtech.com/show/8633/apple-q4-fy-2014-fiscal-r...
        cwyers 12y ago
        Except they're tied. The way you get Apple services is buying Apple hardware. You can't buy most Apple services separately from Apple hardware, and you don't get charged for many Apple services aside from the purchase price of the hardware. The debate over whether Apple makes money off hardware or software is ridiculous. Every iPhone contains both Apple hardware and software, and works in concert with Apple services, designed to be a cohesive whole. It's ONE experience, designed top to bottom to work together. That's Apple's entire value proposition.