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SG&A Is Tesla's Real Problem  The real problem with Tesla (TSLA) isn’t even spoken about very much in the press. It isn’t that Tesla can’t build enough of the Model 3s, it’s that Tesla can’t afford to. And if Elon Musk says that the Model 3 gross margins are great, be very worried. Because if Elon Musk goes out of his way to emphatically state something, it typically means that the complete opposite is true.
Bashing iPhone Users Only Makes Sense In One Scenario  Samsung this week seems to have resumed their old practice of poking fun of iPhone users. They had retreated from that somewhat over the past two years but now with a new CEO at the helm it seems that their old favorite subject is back in vogue.
Power to the People  When Apple didn’t do their typical wide-scale distribution of review units for the iPhone X to the usual tech outlets I raised an eyebrow but didn’t think too much about it until today. Now I see that the iPhone X is literally available for pickup at every Apple store within a 250 mile radius of my house. If I wanted one, which I don’t, it would be fairly easy to go get one. However, I find the easy availability of the new iPhone all the more curious because it means that Apple didn’t limit review units due to supply constraints.
 Tesla (TSLA) released their Q3 quarterly earnings on Wednesday and the results were horrific. Even the Tesla bulls, who’ve shrugged off losses in the past, were shaken by the sheer magnitude. I’m not surprised one bit. Tesla is exactly following the path that I’ve predicted in my book.
I Want Wider Not Taller  I’ve made two assertions financially about the iPhone that were confirmed in Apple’s Q1 guidance this week. First, that the iPhone X isn’t less profitable than the iPhone 8. Apple forecast gross margins of 38-38.5% which are higher than Q4 and on par with Q1 of 2017. So any downtick in iPhone 8 unit sales are being offset by the higher margin iPhone X. Second, I said that this dual-stage launch may be Apple’s most successful ever. Apple forecasted record revenues for Q1 of $84-$87 million. That means that both the iPhone 8 is selling quite well and the production bottlenecks for the iPhone X were way overblown.
 Every year when Apple releases their new iPhone, there’s a huge rush of buyers trying to get their orders in literally within seconds. This is to ensure that they’ll be a part of the first wave that will ship on launch day. Although, I always wonder how many of these launch day sales actually go to real iPhone fans versus enterprising resellers. I’m sure the majority of the units go to end users, but I wouldn’t be surprised if over 10% of the units go to scalpers. Which means that millions more will get up on Day 1 of iPhone pre-order day only to find that the stock was all snapped up while they slept.
Where the Telegraph Gets It Wrong  This article from the Telegraph trying to make the case that Apple (AAPL) is at risk of taking a profit hit due to the way that they handled the iPhone launch this year is ridiculous. Their big flaw is in the graph listing the iPhone 8 demand at much lower than the iPhone 7. But that’s because iPhone 8 demand will be more smooth and distributed evenly across the year as opposed to the peaks that new models typically get. The part that they didn’t show is how last year the iPhone 7 had a severe drop off in Q2 whereas the iPhone 8 probably won’t.
The Logitech Slim Combo Case for 10.5" iPad Pro  Apple launched the new 10.5” iPad Pro in July and since then it’s been my main workhouse machine. I use it to do all of my business and writing at home and I take it to work every day to use as my note pad and organizer. One of the things that I love about my iPad Pro is that I get to choose which keyboard I want to use based on the occasion. Unlike MacBook Pro users who are unhappy with Apple’s choice of the new shallow keys. They can’t just swap the keyboard for a different brand like an iPad user can. But I digress.
 There’s absolutely no way that Apple would launch the iPhone X and accept a lower gross margin than what it is getting on the iPhone 8.
 Samsung’s former director of Innovation Strategy and lead of Retail Innovation wrote an interesting article for TechCrunch explaining why Apple beats Samsung so handily if you just look at the premium slice of the smartphone market. Here’s a few excerpts:
The Pixel Buds are the Equivalent of an Underwater Driving Car  When Apple’s AirPods first came out the rest of the wireless headphones industry was in utter shock at how far Apple had leapfrogged the industry. By including dual optical sensors, accelerometers, and the new W1 chip the AirPods could do things no other earphones could. But the knock on them by many was that they looked weird.
But is that fair? If you remove wires from any headphone you end up with a challenge regarding battery placement and simple ergonomics. I just happened to be perusing the latest tech headlines the other day when by total chance, I stumbled upon the following two news articles side-by-side. The Echo Is the Next Sonos, In More Ways Than One  I find it the height of irony that Sonos is partnering with Amazon to plug a hole in their feature lineup. Only a few years ago, Sonos was the premier wireless music solution. When it came to wireless music for your home that had quality sound, Sonos was everyone’s top recommendation.
Plus Special Bonus for BMW F30 Owners  I’ve been searching on-and-off for five years for the perfect mount to hold my iPhone while I’m driving. The search is over because I finally found a mount that I’m really happy with. So why the difficulty? Well, let me describe my criteria.
Why Go To All the Trouble?  Even before rumors started circulating that Apple (AAPL) may drop Touch ID from all phones next year, I’ve pondered the curious existence of the iPhone 7’s faux home button. If you weren’t aware, Apple left the regular mechanical button design in the iPhone 7 in favor of an imitation button that gives haptic feedback when you press it. It’s a pretty slick design and I actually prefer it over the real buttons on older iPhones. Quick double-presses on my iPhone 7 Plus seem much more responsive than they used to.
Tesla Took a Shortcut and It Backfired  Brooke Crothers over at Forbes had an interesting take on skipping the Tesla Model 3 in favor of the Chevy Bolt and I couldn’t agree with him more.
 I love shopping for new things on Amazon (AMZN). That’s partly because I love sitting in my favorite chair with my iPad Pro and perusing all the colorful pictures in the comfort of my own home. It’s also quite handy to read the comments from previous users of the product. Plus, I don’t have to enter my payment info every time. Who doesn’t groan when they want to buy something online and they are met with setting up a new account at some strange website?
 The best Apple Watch Series 3 review I’ve seen yet is from Bloomberg, courtesy of Hodinkee’s Ben Clymer. If you want to know what someone steeped in the high-brow world of mechanical watches thinks about the whole “connected watch” trend, you should read the whole article. But grab a cup of coffee and sit in your comfy seat because it’s a long one.
The Series 3 Apple Watch  In September Apple (AAPL) released the 3rd generation Apple Watch called the Series 3 and it is Apple's important product launch of the year. Of course, it’ll still get overshadowed by the iPhone from a sales dollar perspective. But when it comes to history making pivot points, the watch wins handily.
 Now this is interesting. Contrary to what a lot of people in tech might think Huburt Joly, the CEO of Best Buy (BBY), doesn’t perceive Amazon (AMZN) to be a threat. That’s what I think, but I didn’t expect him to see it that way too.
Deploying AI Locally vs Centrally  One thing that’s always bothered me about AI doomsday scenarios where mankind creates machines that one day kill us all is this: they assume uniformity of thought, whereas real intelligence almost always leads to diversity of thought.
Did Face ID Blow Up on the Launchpad?  I enjoyed Craig Federighi’s inside scoop on how Apple’s first ever Face ID demo didn’t go according to plan on Tuesday’s big iPhone X unveiling. He made a guest appearance on John Gruber’s Talk Show this week.
The Town Square's True Aim  It’ll be interesting to see how far Apple pursues their new Town Square concept for their Apple Stores. What they’re trying to do is not as crazy as a lot of people seem to think. Apple is putting their own spin on what is known in retail as the “destination store”.
 Last night, Apple’s (AAPL) pre-order system went live for their new Series 3 Apple Watch. I thought it was probably unnecessary for me to set my alarm for 2 am in order to get in my order, but I did it anyway, just in case. It turns out that it was a good thing I did. I wanted the stainless steel LTE model with the white sport band and it sold out in under five minutes.
 As I watched the news coverage on the long lines of people trying to get gas on their way out of Florida I wondered how things would be far worse if everyone was driving electric cars. Tesla’s range increase notwithstanding, it would have been pure chaos.
Moving People vs Moving Data: What Saves More Lives?  Much has been said about the “Cajun Navy” and how they did an amazing job using their iPhones with aiding first responders with evacuating flood victims. There are a lot of people alive today who wouldn’t be otherwise if it wasn’t for this massive community effort.
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Robert PerezManufacturing and distribution analysis since 1993. 
Perezonomics is available in Apple News
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