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<sarcasm>Greedy bastards!</sarcasm> I always find it interesting to note that nobody ever acuses Apple of being greedy. The typical punching bag on the "greed

<sarcasm>Greedy bastards!</sarcasm> I always find it interesting to note that nobody ever acuses Apple of being greedy. The typical punching bag on the "greedy bastards" bandwagon are the oil companies. Interestingly enough they operate at gross profit in the order of 7% while Apple is running somewhere around 40%. Just google "apple profit margin" for that data. Here's a Forbes article on oil companies, including the revelation that the government makes far more money per gallon than the oil companies themselves. Data is a bitch. http://www.forbes.com/2011/05/10/oil-company-earnings.html http://www.forbes.com/2011/05/10/oil-company-earnings.html

skj 12y ago
Gasoline for your car is a life necessity for many people. Apple hardware is not.
- jessaustin 12y ago
  This is a non sequitur. Food is also a life necessity for many people. Should farmers give away their produce?
  - skj 12y ago
    If farmers were billionaires and had a cartel to artificially manipulate prices (and it were widely known, just in case they already do that), I imagine we'd hear similar complaints.
    - fragmede 12y ago
      No only are there billionaire farmers, but their 'price-fixing cartel' goes so far as to pay farmers to not farm!
      - spinchange 12y ago
        There are billion dollar agricultural corporations. I do not think there is a statistically significant population of billionaire family farms. Probably not even in the hundreds or tens of millions $ level, for that matter.
        bryanlarsen 12y ago
        There are lots of family farms worth more than $10 million dollars. An average Saskatchewan farm has about $1.5 million dollars worth of land and a similar amount in equipment; farms 3X in size are not uncommon. Typically a $3Million dollar farm is run by a farmer by himself; a $10Million dollar farm would either have a single hired hand or more typically be a partnership between two family members. Of course, the farmer himself is not worth $10M, large mortgages and operating loans are usually required.
        spinchange 12y ago
        >Of course, the farmer himself is not worth $10M, large mortgages and operating loans are usually required. While probably not clear, this was my point. I know in U.S. for instance, policy makers used to argue that repealing the estate/inheritance ("death ") tax would help keep family farms in their respective families. In actual fact, it is very hard to find lots of individual farmers in the U.S. w estate tax exposure.
    - snowwindwaves 12y ago
      In canada there is a government run dairy cartel. It is very similar to the taxi medallions, farmers must purchase the right to produce dairy products. "Quota" for a dairy cow is worth 200k. 2 liters of milk is about $5 at the grocery store. There is also a maple syrup cartel in Quebec which has been in the news recently.
JustSomeNobody 12y ago
Apple is _always_ accused of being greedy. Have you never heard of the "Apple Tax"?
spinchange 12y ago
>At the gas tank integrated oil companies make about 7 cents per gallon This has to be the figure for what the owner of the gas station makes, which in some instances is the oil company itself, but in many instances is a franchisee. Some states actually have price controls on gas to protect small "mom and pop" stations from "integrated" competitors(!) So, Exxon, et al. are making a hell of a lot more than $.07 per gallon of unleaded gas, not to mention the fact that gasoline is just one product that comes out of a barrel of oil. I think people do see Apple as greedy, but even more people perceive thier products as non-commodity, luxury goods and think Apple is justified. A lot of people also identify with the Apple brand on a personal level. I don't think anyone thinks of themselves as an Exxon or BP person. Millions of people think of themselves as "Apple people."
- rebootthesystem 12y ago
  No, it's about 8% http://cdn.exxonmobil.com/~/media/global/Reports/Other%20Reports/2015/2014%20Financials http://cdn.exxonmobil.com/~/media/global/Reports/Other%20Rep...
bdcravens 12y ago
What's Basecamp's profit margin? Obviously they're private, but a public software company like Facebook is operating north of 80% (and a quick quick of Twitter and Google showed 60%+) https://ycharts.com/companies/FB/gross_profit_margin https://ycharts.com/companies/FB/gross_profit_margin

skj 12y ago

Gasoline for your car is a life necessity for many people. Apple hardware is not.

jessaustin 12y ago
This is a non sequitur. Food is also a life necessity for many people. Should farmers give away their produce?
- skj 12y ago
  If farmers were billionaires and had a cartel to artificially manipulate prices (and it were widely known, just in case they already do that), I imagine we'd hear similar complaints.
  - fragmede 12y ago
    No only are there billionaire farmers, but their 'price-fixing cartel' goes so far as to pay farmers to not farm!
    - spinchange 12y ago
      There are billion dollar agricultural corporations. I do not think there is a statistically significant population of billionaire family farms. Probably not even in the hundreds or tens of millions $ level, for that matter.
      - bryanlarsen 12y ago
        There are lots of family farms worth more than $10 million dollars. An average Saskatchewan farm has about $1.5 million dollars worth of land and a similar amount in equipment; farms 3X in size are not uncommon. Typically a $3Million dollar farm is run by a farmer by himself; a $10Million dollar farm would either have a single hired hand or more typically be a partnership between two family members. Of course, the farmer himself is not worth $10M, large mortgages and operating loans are usually required.
        spinchange 12y ago
        >Of course, the farmer himself is not worth $10M, large mortgages and operating loans are usually required. While probably not clear, this was my point. I know in U.S. for instance, policy makers used to argue that repealing the estate/inheritance ("death ") tax would help keep family farms in their respective families. In actual fact, it is very hard to find lots of individual farmers in the U.S. w estate tax exposure.
  - snowwindwaves 12y ago
    In canada there is a government run dairy cartel. It is very similar to the taxi medallions, farmers must purchase the right to produce dairy products. "Quota" for a dairy cow is worth 200k. 2 liters of milk is about $5 at the grocery store. There is also a maple syrup cartel in Quebec which has been in the news recently.

JustSomeNobody 12y ago

Apple is _always_ accused of being greedy. Have you never heard of the "Apple Tax"?

spinchange 12y ago

>At the gas tank integrated oil companies make about 7 cents per gallon This has to be the figure for what the owner of the gas station makes, which in some instances is the oil company itself, but in many instances is a franchisee. Some states actually have price controls on gas to protect small "mom and pop" stations from "integrated" competitors(!) So, Exxon, et al. are making a hell of a lot more than $.07 per gallon of unleaded gas, not to mention the fact that gasoline is just one product that comes out of a barrel of oil. I think people do see Apple as greedy, but even more people perceive thier products as non-commodity, luxury goods and think Apple is justified. A lot of people also identify with the Apple brand on a personal level. I don't think anyone thinks of themselves as an Exxon or BP person. Millions of people think of themselves as "Apple people."

rebootthesystem 12y ago
No, it's about 8% http://cdn.exxonmobil.com/~/media/global/Reports/Other%20Reports/2015/2014%20Financials http://cdn.exxonmobil.com/~/media/global/Reports/Other%20Rep...

bdcravens 12y ago

What's Basecamp's profit margin? Obviously they're private, but a public software company like Facebook is operating north of 80% (and a quick quick of Twitter and Google showed 60%+) https://ycharts.com/companies/FB/gross_profit_margin https://ycharts.com/companies/FB/gross_profit_margin