Apple CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams Visiting China

[I7guy]

I have to disagree with this premise. Maybe it just means the corporation is overcharging the customers.

So apple customers will just pay for something that’s overpriced? They are just sheep as the saying goes? With billions of customers you really believe apple customers are that dumb?

 

[jayducharme]

This is a non-sequitur, but Jeff Williams reminds me of the Fred Astaire doll in the Rankin-Bass production of Santa Clause Is Coming to Town.

 

[citysnaps]

So apple customers will just pay for something that’s overpriced? They are just sheep as the saying goes? With billions of customers you really believe apple customers are that dumb?

Spot-on. Seems some people think the majority of Apple's massive customer base are stupid. With the people who think that believing they are the very few smart ones in the world.

Apple producing outstanding products that people want to buy, year after year after year -> Outstanding Apple sales year after year after year after year -> Apple being one of the most successful tech companies in the world.

Funny how that works...

 

[ThailandToo]

You could have just wrote that, as it's what's really going on in your comment. The rest is packaging.

Whatever you say. You’re the expert!

 

[I7guy]

I actually work in executive levels of business - especially in business strategy. And there’s a conundrum when the CEO makes money because the company does well now. The CEO who worries about now is the CEO who wants to line their own pockets. The CEO who cares about the future, and leads the company not into the most money now but the most success in the long term is a real leader. To me, Tim Cook is good at making money. However, we all can see the software slipping, Apple wasting BILLIONS for years on car and vision projects that aren’t working. Apple has gone cheap at the expense of customers. So all these Macs for many years should have had 16GB of RAM, because they’re not upgradable. In the long term, customers will not understand why they have to buy a new Mac again when they just bought one as the newest AI isn’t working right as they only have 8GB of RAM on their Mac - same as a base iPhone.

This leads me to believe that Apple has truly built a fan base, but at the same time it has depleted goodwill with customers who will continue to feel skeptical about their next purchase from Apple, because they keep getting burned. Companies that are wildly successful often fail within a few years due to innovation. Think simple ones in tech like BlackBerry or Nokia. Both were strong. One of the BlackBerry duo CEOs said he hadn’t even seen an iPhone. That’s stupidity. Now, I don’t think Tim is stupid. I think he knows what he’s doing to make money for AAPL now. When shareholders are happy is when they’re making money now.

The investment side of it. Warren Buffet, amazing investor made a fortune on AAPL then got out of the stock. The reason is the money has been made. There’s no new innovation coming. The best Tim has done is an Apple Watch that insiders say Steve knew about. Other than that, AirPods? You think Steve didn’t think of that? What Apple needs is a leader that for ten years innovates again and who doesn’t cheap out at the expense of customers to ensure they make an extra $50m as their shareholders made money. It’s all a game. And game theory and strategy tells me Apple will struggle if they continue to only focus on money. They have gotten so big by being an anticompetitive bully. That’s not going to continue to work. Apple will end up having to open up the App Store all over the world - and it is fair. We bought the devices, and we should be able to do whatever we want with them. Apple has acted like a monopoly and governments will feel the pressure from citizens to regulate like the EU has done and even the US recently ruled against Google and Android.

The good thing is there’s hope. But Apple needs a visionary to restore order and say no. New ideas. Not what we think we want as we just want a faster horse like Ford said. No, need to innovate again, as since Steve has passed away, I feel Apple has only cared about the money and failed to innovate in any way other than a good not great SoC in the M-series chips. We see that Qualcomm now supposedly has a faster mobile SoC. The end of Apple’’s reign is near, unless they can innovate and quit nickel and diming customers so the top 1% can get wealthier. Customers may think they’re happy, but wait until something better comes along as Apple quit innovating…

I've been watching for forums for a few years at this point. A comment sentiment here at MR after 2011 was Apple was going to implode. After 13 years I'm waiting for that to happen. Apple seems to defy the odds. (And sure it's a possibility they will end up as Blackberry -- nothing is outside the realm of possibility in this world) With a billion customers or more Apple is not going to please everyone.

The fact that Warren Buffet used Apple as an ATM is neither here or there. I don't know any CEOs who manage to the stock price. Most, I would think, most CEOs try to create value by producing products and services their customers want to buy. What the sentiment of the buying public is at this point, neither you or I know other than anecdotally.

What happens in the future remains to be seen. The app store is not a public utility and EU bullying apple is way out of line. And whether the DoJ wins their lawsuit remains to be seen. Apple is not a stupid company and it will be interesting to see how they navigate some of these challenges. But I do think Tim Cook has done an amazing job. The bad thing is life after Tim might just fulfill the prophecy of the staunchest of MR critics.

 

[emulator]

China has build the most solar farm, wind turbine farm, more nuclear power plant than any country in the world.

And killed what percentage of the wildlife/land in the process? The largest environmental abusers no matter how some try to wash them clean.

 

[citysnaps]

I've been watching for forums for a few years at this point. A comment sentiment here at MR after 2011 was Apple was going to implode. After 13 years I'm waiting for that to happen. Apple seems to defy the odds. (And sure it's a possibility they will end up as Blackberry -- nothing is outside the realm of possibility in this world) With a billion customers or more Apple is not going to please everyone.

The fact that Warren Buffet used Apple as an ATM is neither here or there. I don't know any CEOs who manage to the stock price. Most, I would think, most CEOs try to create value by producing products and services their customers want to buy. What the sentiment of the buying public is at this point, neither you or I know other than anecdotally.

What happens in the future remains to be seen. The app store is not a public utility and EU bullying apple is way out of line. And whether the DoJ wins their lawsuit remains to be seen. Apple is not a stupid company and it will be interesting to see how they navigate some of these challenges. But I do think Tim Cook has done an amazing job. The bad thing is life after Tim might just fulfill the prophecy of the staunchest of MR critics.

"But I do think Tim Cook has done an amazing job. The bad thing is life after Tim might just fulfill the prophecy of the staunchest of MR critics."

Yes!

Cook gets a ton of credit for Apple's success in pleasing its 1+ Billion active customers with Apple products people love and want purchase year after year after year. He also gets a loads of credit for keeping Apple's 600,000+ employees employed during the 3 year pandemic, while many other Silicon Valley (and other) large tech companies were having massive layoffs.

Unfortunately... many people don't recognize the above. Instead, they make fun of how he looks/dresses/his glasses/etc. Also, when he became CEO there was a huge brouhaha here about his lifestyle. Sadly, I think many *still* have issues with that.

 

[svish]

Good to know about this.

 

[9081094]

Just an aside. Nice shot of cook and Williams. When shareholders make money it means customers are happy. And that means the board is happy. And that means the customers are happy. Not 100% of the customers. Because you can please some of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

This is one of the stupidest reasoning I’ve read in a while 😂🤣😂

 

[I7guy]

This is one of the stupidest reasoning I’ve read in a while 😂🤣😂

It 100% describes some of nonsensical criticism against apple.

 

[Aoligei]

And killed what percentage of the wildlife/land in the process? The largest environmental abusers no matter how some try to wash them clean.

Like you know how many percentage of wildlife/land being killed or wasted? You have any solid evidence?

What is your solution to global warming? Both solar farm and wind farm take spaces. Nuclear is dangerous. hydro electricity requires dams to be build, which could have negative environmental impact. There is no perfect solution to energy problems.

I don’t understand the negative spin with anything related to China.