High end eReader saves Apple - well almost.

[frahse]

Usually I don't watch the stock market from day to day, but since Thursday, things have been a bit down on the Markets, and since I am at my home office (after Christmas and New Year installations) I have had a chance to catch up on financial things.

One of my sons and I spoke of buying Apple (APPL) last night. When I looked at it early this morning, APPL was already up near $5 to about $550 and so I just moved on trying to make the best out of a "bummer" market.

Then this afternoon I looked again.
I turns out that earnings for APPL came out after the Market bell and weren't so good.
Make no mistake about it. Apple depends on the iPhone. It is the financial and PR engine for the company.

APPL was 8% down in after hours trading after the Earnings Report
Essentially iPhones were down.
Even so, revenue barely missed because iPads (that "High end" eReader) sales were up and Macs were up.

But current guidance was lower than expectations, so we might see a "sell off" tomorrow.

I will buy at no more than $400 if everything else is ok.

edited: I had $450 instead of $550.

See:
http://moneymorning.com/2014/01/27/a...-iphone-sales/

[meeera]

*Shrug*. The latest iPhone revision was very "meh" - fine if you're buying from scratch, but no reason to upgrade for many people. I'm not at all surprised that sales didn't set any records.

(I'm giggling a bit at the iPad being called an "ereader". I doubt that most users ever use theirs as an ereader, let alone consider it primarily an ereader.)

[icebreaker]

In point of fact Apple's earnings were very good. They reported sales and EPS above the high end of analyst estimates. They reported net income and revenue higher than they ever reported before and the 4th highest quarterly results of any company, ever.

Until two weeks ago, the so called analysts were predicting iPhone sales of 47 million for the quarter. In the last two weeks, in what has become a predictable pattern, the estimates got ramped up out of all sense of reality until Friday reports were coming out estimating iPhone sales of 55 million units. In fact they sold 51.4 million. Well above what was expected two weeks ago before the analyst hype machines kicked in.

Now the earnings are being spun as a "miss". Bear in mind that Apple does provide guidance as to how many units of a product it is selling, the number is entirely drawn from the rabid imaginations of the analysts.

Apple provided guidance as to revenue and earnings and they beat both of those.

Of the six best reported quarters ever, in the world, for sales and earnings, 3 of them were reported by Apple.


Also BTW - I use my iPad as an eReader, I also use it as my primary computer. I use it for word processing and spreadsheets. I compose and edit all of presentations on it. The only thing I cannot do on it is downloading my Garmin, and that is largely the only thing I ever use my laptop for anymore.

[meeera]

You mean Apple isn't going out of business? Say it ain't so!

[5thWiggle]

[charmian]

I also agree that I don't see tablets as e-readers. They are more like e-readers than PCs are, but still, so are phones. (In fact, don't a lot of people read on their smartphones?)

Originally Posted by charmian

I also agree that I don't see tablets as e-readers. They are more like e-readers than PCs are, but still, so are phones. (In fact, don't a lot of people read on their smartphones?)

While I agree with you for the most part, I suspect that would depend upon the person. There are people who use their tablet almost exclusively, or exclusively, for reading. A few freaks, such as myself, have even installed alternative software just so that they could strip out anything that isn't related to reading. Example: my tablet is setup with some ereading software, a web browser that's used solely to read books that were published in HTML format (e.g. The Feynman Lectures on Physics and programming documentation), and an alarm clock.

[cfrizz]

The plain fact of the matter is that people are reading on all kinds of devices now so unless surveyors etc. are willing to include ALL the devices that are being used to read books there will never be an accurate count of who is reading ebooks.

[DiapDealer]

Exactly. People need to stop worrying about what defines an "ereader." It's just not all that important that it BE defined.

[afv011]

Part of the problem with those numbers is that Apple, although still growing, is doing so at a considerably lower pace than the market. In 2013 the smartphone market, despite slow down, grew by 38%, so apple keeps losing market share. Also, most of the growth comes from emerging markets, more budget conscious, where apple is not an option.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by afv011

Also, most of the growth comes from emerging markets, more budget conscious, where apple is not an option.

Shame on those people for not paying Apple prices

[pl001]

Originally Posted by afv011

Also, most of the growth comes from emerging markets, more budget conscious, where apple is not an option.

I think devices like the Lumia 520 and Moto G are what should really be concerning to Apple. In my opinion the days of the carrier-subsidized $600 phone are coming to an end in all markets.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by afv011

Part of the problem with those numbers is that Apple, although still growing, is doing so at a considerably lower pace than the market. In 2013 the smartphone market, despite slow down, grew by 38%, so apple keeps losing market share. Also, most of the growth comes from emerging markets, more budget conscious, where apple is not an option.

And their spare cash only went up by around $12 billion, record sales of iPhones & iPads, even net profits were slightly up - obvious disaster unlike Samsung who had a net 9% sequential decline in handset revenue and a fourth quarter unexpected profit slide down 18% in the traditionally best quarter but that's fine because they're not Apple...

And just to raise two fingers to the "Fanboi Accusers," I use a Samsung Note 3 as my phone because I don't like iPhones...

[afv011]

Originally Posted by pl001

I think devices like the Lumia 520 and Moto G are what should really be concerning to Apple. In my opinion the days of the carrier-subsidized $600 phone are coming to an end in all markets.

Indeed, the key for both Android and Windows OSes is to lock those people into their respective ecosystems early on, most people stick to what they know and are familiar with. Apple is letting a massive percentage of the population slip by as they're not offering a reasonably priced phone. We're heading to the same situation we have on PCs, where apple is a niche player and Windows takes the lion's share - just replace Windows with Android in the smartphone arena.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by elcreative

And their spare cash only went up by around $12 billion, record sales of iPhones & iPads, even net profits were slightly up - obvious disaster unlike Samsung who had a net 9% sequential decline in handset revenue and a fourth quarter unexpected profit slide down 18% in the traditionally best quarter but that's fine because they're not Apple...

And just to raise two fingers to the "Fanboi Accusers," I use a Samsung Note 3 as my phone because I don't like iPhones...

You're obviously not reading what I said. It is not a matter of "record this", "record that", it is a matter of growing at or above the market growth - if you're falling behind the market growth, then you're not doing it right.