iPads are an enormous profit engine for Apple

[smoledman]

It's estimated Apple has sold 55 million iPads to date. Given the average BOM vs the average selling price, it's safe to assume they've made in the range of $22-$25 billion EBITA on this product segment alone in just 22 months.

In the same span they sold 146 million iPhones making approx $58 billion cash from that alone.

However Apple's current stated cash pile is $90 billion so I guess they've plowed a huge amount of that $80 billion into purchasing bulk components and iCloud datacenter expenditures.

 

[jeremyshaw]

It's estimated Apple has sold 55 million iPads to date. Given the average BOM vs the average selling price, it's safe to assume they've made in the range of $22-$25 billion EBITA on this product segment alone in just 22 months.

In the same span they sold 146 million iPhones making approx $58 billion cash from that alone.

However Apple's current stated cash pile is $90 billion so I guess they've plowed a huge amount of that $80 billion into purchasing bulk components and iCloud datacenter expenditures.

Or research, relationships with the actual R&D/manufs, and dividends to stockholders may of sapped that away.

 

[smoledman]

It's estimated Apple will have $146 billion in cash at the end of 2013-2014. With that kind of cash they can invest in green tech.

 

[Chundles]

Or research, relationships with the actual R&D/manufs, and dividends to stockholders may of sapped that away.

May "have" and Apple do not pay dividends.

 

[danahn17]

It's estimated Apple will have $146 billion in cash at the end of 2013-2014. With that kind of cash they can invest in green tech.

"They can" does not mean they will.

 

[smoledman]

So given the reality of this world-beating cash horde, it seems inevitable that Apple will have the ability to scale up Mac production to take over the entire PC market within 5-7 years. I can see a majority of smartphones being iPhones and they already own the tablet & music player lock, stock and barrel. Imagine a world in 2017 where 80% of any electronics made and sold are Apple.

 

[jeremyshaw]

So given the reality of this world-beating cash horde, it seems inevitable that Apple will have the ability to scale up Mac production to take over the entire PC market within 5-7 years. I can see a majority of smartphones being iPhones and they already own the tablet & music player lock, stock and barrel. Imagine a world in 2017 where 80% of any electronics made and sold are Apple.

Lol. Unless if Apple goes into cheap computers, and at the same time, goes into the superhigh end, I don't see them taking much more marketshare.


As for the iPhone comment.... lol. That's all I gotta say in this thread.

 

[smoledman]

Just look at Apple Stores when a new iPhone or iPad comes out. There are practically riots in whole countries over iPhones. Does any other company incite such huge emotions?

 

[boss.king]

It's estimated Apple will have $146 billion in cash at the end of 2013-2014. With that kind of cash they can invest in green tech.

They could. But more likely they'll release marginally updated products and horde the profits, like they've done in the past. In this case "they can" pretty much means "they won't". I'd like to be proven wrong, but I don't think that will happen.

 

[wonderspark]

So given the reality of this world-beating cash horde, it seems inevitable that Apple will have the ability to scale up Mac production to take over the entire PC market within 5-7 years. I can see a majority of smartphones being iPhones and they already own the tablet & music player lock, stock and barrel. Imagine a world in 2017 where 80% of any electronics made and sold are Apple.

Is that the same world where all restaurants are Taco Bell, and you use three shells instead of handfuls of wadded paper?

 

[danahn17]

Imagine a world in 2017 where 80% of any electronics made and sold are Apple.

I imagined... and it kind of looked like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhsWzJo2sN4

 

[smoledman]

I imagined... and it kind of looked like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhsWzJo2sN4

Except that it was going to be that dystopia of Microsoft prevailed. Imagine if Apple's resurgence hadn't happened. We'd still be stuck with big bulky PC boxes, Windows CE and Vista.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Except that it was going to be that dystopia of Microsoft prevailed. Imagine if Apple's resurgence hadn't happened. We'd still be stuck with big bulky PC boxes, Windows CE and Vista.

Um what? bulky boxes make a dystopia?

 

[smoledman]

Um what? bulky boxes make a dystopia?

vs

 

[*LTD*]

It's estimated Apple has sold 55 million iPads to date. Given the average BOM vs the average selling price, it's safe to assume they've made in the range of $22-$25 billion EBITA on this product segment alone in just 22 months.

In the same span they sold 146 million iPhones making approx $58 billion cash from that alone.

However Apple's current stated cash pile is $90 billion so I guess they've plowed a huge amount of that $80 billion into purchasing bulk components and iCloud datacenter expenditures.

It's pretty astounding. Good post.

 

[belvdr]

Except that it was going to be that dystopia of Microsoft prevailed. Imagine if Apple's resurgence hadn't happened. We'd still be stuck with big bulky PC boxes, Windows CE and Vista.

Have you seen the Mac Pro? A bit dated, don't you think? Granted, the inside is nice, but you're not looking at the inside all day. I don't see any difference in visual appeal between the Dell model you posted and the Mac Pro. At least the Dell has a couple of colors to break up the black.

You keep saying Apple will take over the entire PC market. You obviously have no facts on that, as noted in your other thread. You didn't even respond when challenged. PCs are not just what you see in your local retailer running home versions of various operating systems. There's a much bigger space in the enterprise world.

 

[*LTD*]

Have you seen the Mac Pro? A bit dated, don't you think? Granted, the inside is nice, but you're not looking at the inside all day. I don't see any difference in visual appeal between the Dell model you posted and the Mac Pro.

You don't?

 

[boss.king]

You don't?

I do, but not enough difference to be worth the extra thousand bucks.

 

[Stella]

I do, but not enough difference to be worth the extra thousand bucks.

Any one who cares about how pretty the inside of their PC case maybe needs other priorities. As long as it is expandable, easy to maintain, who cares what the insides look like!?

 

[snberk103]

So given the reality of this world-beating cash horde, it seems inevitable that Apple will have the ability to scale up Mac production to take over the entire PC market within 5-7 years. I can see a majority of smartphones being iPhones and they already own the tablet & music player lock, stock and barrel. Imagine a world in 2017 where 80% of any electronics made and sold are Apple.

Not a chance, imho of course.... Apple doesn't want that kind of market-share. What Apple wants, and is very good at, is dominating the profitable PC and handheld segments. Apple doesn't need to start slogging it out in the budget priced market.... this is where you risk losing money.

With the cash on hand I believe Apple will either start paying dividends - I'm thinking it was a particularly Jobsian decision not to pay dividends, and that Cook may have different ideas. OR (though I suppose it could AND as well) And/Or Apple will buy a content creator (movie studio, TV network, etc) so that it will have a near monopoly on some content. Buy an iDevice, and watch/listen to/etc "whateveritisApplebuys".

For instance.... this event on Thursday, that supposedly is about text books.... if Apple couldn't find partners to sign on, they could just buy one of the publishing houses and put out their own text books. I realize that a text book publisher is barely going to dent the cash pile.... though now that I think of it... this could just be test to see if pushing their own content out to iDevices is going to work. If it does, then perhaps it's a big movie or TV studio next?

just speculating of course.... no one here really knows.....

 

[smoledman]

Have you seen the Mac Pro? A bit dated, don't you think? Granted, the inside is nice, but you're not looking at the inside all day. I don't see any difference in visual appeal between the Dell model you posted and the Mac Pro. At least the Dell has a couple of colors to break up the black.

You keep saying Apple will take over the entire PC market. You obviously have no facts on that, as noted in your other thread. You didn't even respond when challenged. PCs are not just what you see in your local retailer running home versions of various operating systems. There's a much bigger space in the enterprise world.

Looks pretty nice inside too:

now compare with a Dell XPS(really ugly):

 

[*LTD*]

Looks pretty nice inside too:

Image

That is art. And that sort of attention to design and detail is evident in all of Apple's hardware. It looks like something that is far more than just a tool; like something you'd want take care of and actually enjoy beyond its simple utility. A lot of consumers feel this way about Apple gear, and thus regard it as a more attractive value proposition.

We're certainly willing to pay more to get something like *that.*

 

[smoledman]

That is art. And that sort of attention to design and detail is evident in all of Apple's hardware. It looks like something that is far more than just a tool; like something you'd want take care of and actually enjoy beyond its simple utility. A lot of consumers feel this way about Apple gear, and thus regard it as a more attractive value proposition.

We're certainly willing to pay more to get something like *that.*

I honestly don't believe that aesthetics of the case or internals were the #1 motivating purchase decision for people who bought Mac Pros. It had to be OS X first and simplicity of expanding memory and storage. Those always have to be your first consideration, the aesthetic of the Mac Pro is a nice bonus but let's not pretend that's why people are buying them. The pro market is not the consumer market where it literally is about how shiny the hardware looks.

 

[neiltc13]

I honestly don't believe that aesthetics of the case or internals were the #1 motivating purchase decision for people who bought Mac Pros. It had to be OS X first and simplicity of expanding memory and storage. Those always have to be your first consideration, the aesthetic of the Mac Pro is a nice bonus but let's not pretend that's why people are buying them. The pro market is not the consumer market where it literally is about how shiny the hardware looks.

I'd say installing memory in a Mac Pro is actually more difficult than say the Dell computer posted above. You have to remove a riser board and then slot in the memory and put the board back in. In the Dell, you just push the memory into the slot and you are done.

 

[smoledman]

I'd say installing memory in a Mac Pro is actually more difficult than say the Dell computer posted above. You have to remove a riser board and then slot in the memory and put the board back in. In the Dell, you just push the memory into the slot and you are done.

Like I said - OS X is the #1 reason.