Research archive for AAPL

What? Who would have thought that one of the best design teams in the world would delivered great products? I am talking about Apple. I am seeing bloggers complain about x and y, they have probably only seen the product from a distance. I see a WSJ preview of the AirPods - Apple's New AirPods May Look Weird, but They Work Great, in which the author (Geoff Fowler) says: "I initially worried about them falling out, but have been pleasantly surprised they don't."

It was one of those highly anticipated Apple events last evening, the blogosphere and the guess-a-sphere did get a few things right. Like the no more headphone jack on the iPhone. She gone. The new iPhone 7 is water resistant, the display is clearer and has more colours, the camera looks more awesome (both back and front), great new zoom feature, there are a couple more colours to choose from, the fingerprint sensor has been built into the new home button, the battery is better, the new operating system (iOS 10 now!) looks to win iPhone users back to iMessage, with Siri, search and maps more powerful. That operating system is available next week. They have sold over 1 billion phones, it is the most successful consumer product of all time.

It is that time of the year again, when the largest company by market capitalisation, Apple, reports numbers. I get the sense that it used to be the most hyped and anticipated set of numbers on Wall Street, I sense a shift to Facebook. There was very little expected from the maker of fine things, the maker of devices that you may, or may not have thought that you needed. Yet, once you had them, you wondered why you had not used it before. The other thing about Apple products is that they just work. My Mac is indispensable to me. People will spend hundreds of thousands of Rands and finance a vehicle over a period of time, to use the vehicle for five to ten percent of the day, yet a product that they are likely to use for 40 to 50 percent of the day, they just "need it to work". It is actually the same with a bed. Perhaps apply the same logic to a motor vehicle, get a better computer (get a Mac, really, you will thank me later) and a better bed, you spend more time with those two things.

Apple! What a company. Their WWDC 2016 started yesterday. Huh? For those of us who will only frequent stores and not attend the Worldwide Developers Conference in 2016, or any other year, we need to look at these events in relation to our products and more importantly, the future revenue streams of the business that are likely to be generated via better products. And services. You can check out all of the updates pending - Apple Special Event. June 13, 2016.

And then some pretty big news in the wee hours of this morning, here is the WSJ (subscription only) that reports that Apple Invests $1 Billion in Didi, Uber's Rival in China. As you can see, Didi is valued at 25 billion, so that must mean that Apple only owns 4 percent of the company in the recent funding round. And this is less than half a percent of their cash resources. In the history of Apple however, this is the second biggest deal ever, Beats by Dr. Dre still being the biggest. Autonomous cars and car hailing app? Sounds all too familiar, right?

This I can't believe. Carl Icahn't get outsized returns by talking it up, which leads him to changing his mind after a year and a half. Less than a year ago, on the 18th of May, Carl Icahn wrote: "After reflecting upon Apple's tremendous success, we now believe Apple shares are worth $240 today. Apple is poised to enter and in our view dominate two new categories (the television next year and the automobile by 2020) with a combined addressable market of $2.2 trillion, a view investors don't appear to factor into their valuation at all."

There are many times when you buy a particular stock and then question why you own that particular stock. In fact, it happens all of the time, when you get your weekly, monthly or annual statements, it is after all supposed to be part of the process, making sure that the thesis is still firmly intact. Making sure that the specific investments that you own still fit the profile, still match all the criteria that you are looking for as an investor. It is Warren Buffett's friend and right hand man who always says that it isn't supposed to be easy. What he (Charlie Munger) means by that is stock investing of course is harder than most people think, it is only the longer you do it that you realise that. Unlike large amounts of push ups and bunker shots for South Africa's most decorated golfer. True story, say what you want about Gary Player (80 years old), at 9 majors, he is more than double that of the next South African.

The worst kept secret in technology was revealed by Tim Cook yesterday, a smaller screen iPhone was introduced. Or reintroduced, which ever way you look at it, remember that whilst the company does not flesh out the iPhone numbers themselves, the iPhone 5c has not really been a resounding success. This may well be. Check out the iPhone SE, with a 12 megapixel camera, as quick a chip as the iPhone 6. What is pretty cool is that it is cheaper, 399 Dollars for the phone. For instance, the iPhone 6s costs 649 Dollars, that is why the new smaller phone is attractive.

Apple, the largest company by market cap, at an astonishing 554 billion Dollars as of last evening (that equates to over 9 trillion Rand), reported numbers yesterday. These are numbers for the first quarter of their 2016 financial year. The headline from the company on their investor relations website says: iPhone, Apple Watch, Services & Apple TV Drive All-time Record Revenue. Record quarter all around.

Apple Inc. announced their fourth quarter results post the market last evening, for the quarter to end 26 September 2015. Don't ask why the quarter ends on the 26th of September. By most metrics the results were a beat, a record fourth quarter for the company. Sales of 51.5 billion Dollars were recorded for the quarter, or roughly 560 million Dollars worth of sales a day. That is mind boggling. At the same time of course being the fourth quarter, the company reported full year sales, which were also an annual record at 234 billion Dollars, an increase of 28 percent. Or by the same day measurement, 641 million Dollars of sales per day across the globe, that is pretty crazy.

Apple's worst kept secret, project Titan was laid out in a WSJ article last evening -> Apple Speeds Up Electric-Car Work, the work force is expected to triple to nearly 2000. In fairness to Apple to have a crack, and others like Elon Musk, the combustion engine has not really evolved for decades, the same principles still applies. A self charging vehicle using the greatest energy source known to man (the sun) whilst you are driving (or the car is driving you) is first prize for me. No recharging stations, or getting supercharges of 2 to 3 minutes maximum would be the holy grail. And I am presuming that Apple will be competing in the company of Tesla, producing beautiful products that are functional and that work well. I think that there is enough space for new entrants. Or am I wrong, will Apple want to build a peoples vehicle?

Apple unveiled their new product line yesterday, as expected the iPhone upgrades on both the smaller and the bigger model happened, better camera, faster chip and something called 3D touch on the phones. Something called peek and pop, you can watch the film via the Apple website. Jony Ive speaks at the beginning of the video, it sounds like a sales advert, pretty cool actually. It recognises hard pushes, to enable other menus, things you do frequently.

I have been hearing a lot about Apple recently, for starters there are continuously rumours about a car. An Apple Car. Is a vehicle not a commodity? Sort of, I guess. And the newer news is about the iPhone 6s, that seem to be coming, announced in the next week, September the 9th. Here is the invitation: "Hey Siri, give us a hint." I like the idea of Siri, being around to help you, perhaps the best use for Siri is in a motor vehicle, when you really have to focus your attention on the road.

The biggest company in the world by market capitalisation (and cash position) reported numbers last evening after the market closed. I am talking about Apple Inc. A company that makes fine products, their most well know being the iPhone, in the current cycle the 6 (and 6 plus) has been a real amazing product very well received by customers all over the globe. At first take revenues of 49.6 billion Dollars for the third quarter are a beat (and a record), the company reported profits of 10.7 billion, also a record for the third quarter. Earnings of 1.86 Dollars a share. Gross margins improved to 39.7 percent, also better than the corresponding quarter.

Taylor Swift is peeved at Apple and perhaps rightfully so, I can see it from her perspective. She reckons that many artists are too scared to speak out against the giant as a result of their clout, this time it is as a result of a three month free service for people using Apple streaming. Swift does not want her album there, she obviously can afford to be picky I guess, she hardly had a ghetto upbringing. That is not fair, you know what I mean though. So here is the letter: To Apple, Love Taylor. As she says, she is just doing this for the new artist, who cannot look out for themselves yet. She just reckons that Apple should start charging people from the beginning. I guess that might well be right, as she points out, she did not get a free iPhone, why should people get free music?