Apple Beats Recession With Its Best Q2 Ever

[Marcus Yam]

Best quarterly earnings yet for Apple, but it's not because of Macs

Apple Beats Recession With Its Best Q2 Ever : Read more

 

[stryk55]

Gross margin was 36.4 percent, up from 32.9 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Is this the "Apple Tax" you pay with any Apple product? That would mean that their products are only worth 63.6 percent of their price...

But I could be misinterpreting it...

 

[matt87_50]

no surprise. in aus an iphone is $900, more than any netbook. seeing as how an iTouch is $300, do you really think that the extra hardware in an iphone is worth TWICE as much as all the hardware shared between them? its just cause no one sees the actual price of the iphone cause everyone gets them for "free" on plans

 

[jhansonxi]

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/23/technology/microsoft_earnings/index.htm?postversion=2009042316

We all know about Windows vs. OS X and iPod vs. Zune. So what's happening with all the Windows Mobile phones?

 

[Hatecrime69]

Well it seems that the one thing that's making them all the money this year is the iphone, so 'apple tax' doesn't really apply since almost nobody buys it without a plan (and apple really, really doesn't want people to, hence the huge markup in places were unlocked versions of phones are required)

with signing your life away (that is, a contract to go along with the iphone) it's typically an average price compared to similar-level phones. Though I guess it's probable that the iphone success limits the ipod growth some, as for macs...apple really needs to get a clue and take a hard, subjective look at what they are trying to do and stop being so stubborn

 

[starryman]

Yet how many years were they in the red? Good Q2 but representing a small market only shared by one company. Take all of the PDA phones and smartphones out there and see what iPhones represent... I like the concept of iPhones but everything standing behind it screams closed monopoly. I'll be an Apple fan when they decide to open up and stop acting like a software/computer company from the 70's.

 

[njalterio]

Perhaps the best 2nd quarter, but how about compared to the last three quarters? It would be interesting to see Apple's numbers compared AFTER the market crash.

Call me cynical, but if computer sales are starting to decrease, I highly doubt Apple will be able to sustain themselves on iPhone's alone. There's only so many they can sell....

 

[Guest]

@ie49589:

Apple is doing good, but so is Microsoft. None of them met expectations, and that's without mentioning market share loss in the "PC" divisions.

To me, all your complaints only sound like a sore Mac fanboy crying ,who will never accept that Microsoft is doing good even after hard evidence and cold facts support that.

Sometimes, the truth hurts doesn't it? LOL

 

[theuerkorn]

It's all about demand and supply. Those in demand can set the price. Get over it. If really nobody wanted an iPhone, Apple couldn't charge a cent for it.

 

[waikano]

Even at the worst of times circa 1995-1996 Apple had around 4 billion in the Bank and their shares were going for around $14.00. Financially Apple has proven it doesn't over expand or over spend like many other companies do. If they have "...almost $29 billion in cash and marketable securities on our balance sheet." then that tells me they are still doing the financially sound thing, whether you like Apple products or not.

 

[njalterio]

[citation][nom]ie49589[/nom]@njalterioAfter the crash, Apple numbers were still good.And if Apple has proven something is that they know how to get themselves out even from the worst case scenario (like when they were in red just before introducing the first iMac, thanks to Jobs of course.)So, it doesn't matter if they aren't selling as many computers as before. Like some one else posted before with a link to a CNN news note, computers sales are declining everywhere, that means BOTH PC & MAC.What matters the most right now is to keep your company afloat and that's something that Apple was able to do successfully. Not only that, they even made revenue out of a recession and whats more, they even made more than in previous times. We cannot say the same about Microsoft, who was barely able to meet expectations and by a very small margin (that's without mentioning market share loss in the OS and internet browser divisions, including that would have affected Micro$oft way more.)To me, all your complaints only sound like a bunch of sore PC fanboys crying, who will never accept that Apple is doing good even after hard evidence and cold facts support that.Sometimes, the truth hurts isn't it? LOL.[/citation]

Actually I never complained about Apple doing well. I am well aware the all computer sales in general are down. I was simply pointing out that Apple has probably been making less profit in recent months immediately after the crash. Having the best second quarter is great, but how about all those other months since September 2008? Have they also been increasing their profit?

"Apple is doing good [things]" is not a fact. That is your opinion. We at Tom's Hardware value technology that gives us function and performance. Apple is clearly more concerned with the basic home user who only cares to browse the web, music, pictures and maybe some word processing. So to everyone here who uses their computer for high end tasks that require quad core processors and huge graphics cards, Apple is going to get a lot of flack here. Maybe Apple is doing good things for people who only have basic tasks, but that doesn't apply to anyone here.

 

[armistitiu]

People are stupid. That's what Apple shows us quarter after quarter...nothing more.

 

[waikano]

[citation]... Apple is clearly more concerned with the basic home user who only cares to browse the web, music, pictures and maybe some word processing. So to everyone here who uses their computer for high end tasks that require quad core processors and huge graphics cards, Apple is going to get a lot of flack here. Maybe Apple is doing good things for people who only have basic tasks, but that doesn't apply to anyone here.[/citation]

This is an opinion, Apple makes machines that have done more High End tasks for a long time, more than likely most of the Movies and Music you watch/listen to were edited and rendered on an Apple product. If you don't watch movies or listen to music, then I guess that wouldn't apply to you. And if you have ever done any kind of this work you would know how CPU intensive this type of work is.

 

[waikano]

[citation][nom]armistitiu[/nom]People are stupid. That's what Apple shows us quarter after quarter...nothing more.[/citation]

And some people are just ignorant.

 

[tenor77]

I'm not Apple fan. I know big shock. Still I can appreciate their business model, even if I'm not a customer. If they can get people to pay their bloated prices, more power to them.

 

[waikano]

[citation][nom]waikano[/nom]Even at the worst of times circa 1995-1996 Apple had around 4 billion in the Bank and their shares were going for around $14.00. Financially Apple has proven it doesn't over expand or over spend like many other companies do. If they have "...almost $29 billion in cash and marketable securities on our balance sheet." then that tells me they are still doing the financially sound thing, whether you like Apple products or not.[/citation]

Looks like I had some of my historical figures wrong. Looks like Apple had about 570 Million in Cash and Assets during it's lowest of times.

 

[scryer_360]

Apple's margins went up: well, Core 2 Duo prices have come down, as have the older mobo's they use. Still, good to hear.

This should put a dent in mac haters.

 

[solymnar]

Apple did well in a quarter that was hard on the industry. As before with the ipod it was because they took a risk at innovating in a market segment that had devices with functionality but has great room to improve in terms of the overall user experience.

I will probably never own one because its simply to annoying to type without a keyboard for me and its simply to pricey (both phone and plan). But by and large the people I know who do buy them not only claim to enjoy them but actually USE the different functionality present. As compared to many other smart phones that many people have that I know but don't fully utilize quite as often.

Granted there are exceptions galore to the picture as I just painted it but in general I believe its fairly accurate. Do you pay a lot for the device and service by comparison? Yep. But on the whole it works and encourages people who buy it to actually use the features it has.

That's a great step forward for the market as a whole. You don't have to like apple, or their product to appreciate that. Its OK to recognize when a company has done well with something. It doesn't mean you like OSX, or macs. It means you're a big enough person to step back and acknowledge a job well done both in marketing and design. It can be argued that they could have done x or y thing better, but that's true of pretty much anything.


After wards we can all go back and shake our heads at the idiocy of the the one button ipod...which still blows my mind that it made it past any semblance of an internal review.

 

[joebob2000]

This is just another piece of evidence on the growing mountain that demonstrates that the current economic downturn is disproportionally affecting the less fortunate (read: those below the apple-poverty line by not being able to afford EITHER an Iphone subscription or a 13" macbook). Fantastic news for the top 10% of households that can still afford a Mac!

 

[snotling]

I'm really not into Mac OS, I'd rather run any (other) Good *nix distro or Windows.

Still I don't mind the overpriced apple products, they are just not for me. their target market is : Snobs and Know it alls with too much money and time on their hands. (except my girlfriend, who is educated, smart, cool and beautiful and none of the above... I'm sooo dead now)

What this news tell me is what I thought for almost two years now has come true: Apple is a (1) Cellphone company that produces other (2) handheld devices and (3) personnal computers and (4) software for all previously named product lines.

Great for them if it turns good proffits, the economy needs companys that do well. I just hope they stop posing as a computer OEM when it is only a tertiary product line for them.

 

[norbs]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

 

[armistitiu]

[citation][nom]waikano[/nom]And some people are just ignorant.[/citation]
If people buy 3000$ macs but their hardware cost is really 1000$ + their Unix flavored OS during recession then they are the ones who are ignorant not me (i hope i got your answer right).

 

[69camaroSS]

[citation][nom]ie49589[/nom]To me, all your complaints only sound like a bunch of sore PC fanboys crying, who will never accept that Apple is doing good even after hard evidence and cold facts support that.Sometimes, the truth hurts isn't it? LOL.[/citation]

Yep sounds about right. Apple's business model is thriving while all the "cheap" brands are strangling each other with retail pricing wars.

 

[69camaroSS]

[citation][nom]stryk55[/nom]Is this the "Apple Tax" you pay with any Apple product? That would mean that their products are only worth 63.6 percent of their price...But I could be misinterpreting it... [/citation]

Actually for most products 36.4% is not a high margin to pay. Jewelry is about 800%, cars, depending on how well you haggle are 35-50%, food is in the 800% range. For a company to continue to be profitable, it must make money.

 

[69camaroSS]

[citation][nom]waikano[/nom] more than likely most of the Movies and Music you watch/listen to were edited and rendered on an Apple product. If you don't watch movies or listen to music, then I guess that wouldn't apply to you. And if you have ever done any kind of this work you would know how CPU intensive this type of work is.[/citation]

Uhhh. For movies I would probably say this is wrong. Avid is what most movies studios use, because of the workflow. Unless you were talking about home movies.