A Financial Slant

Does Samsung Make More Money from the iPhone?

7/8/2017

The iPhone Was the Best Thing to Happen to Android

Business Insider yesterday published a piece mentioning that the components division at Samsung Electronics which sells to Apple (AAPL) is the most profitable section.

Samsung is best known as a brand that sells phones like the Galaxy S8. But its most profitable division sells parts, like screens and memory chips, to companies including Apple.

In fact, Samsung is reported to be the only supplier of the new next-generation OLED screen expected to be a key selling point of the iPhone 8.–Kif Leswing

Corporations Don’t Need Laptops

7/5/2017

Windows Tablets Make More Sense

When it comes to corporate purchasing of computing devices, there are two things that don’t make sense. One, everyone is issued a laptop. And two, no one ever uses most of the hardware features on them. And this is almost universal at companies of all sizes and in all industries.

Thoughts on Chris Lattner’s Departure from Tesla

7/3/2017

Tesla's Stock Options Are Worthless

After only six months on the job, one of the most brilliant programmers in the world, former Apple (AAPL) Director of Development Tools and the Godfather of the Swift programming language, announced that he was leaving Tesla (TSLA). Both Chris Lattner and Tesla have used the phrase “not a good fit”. If you’ve spent a lot of years observing Fortune 500 executives come and go this phrase, generally means one thing. A new person clashed with the indigenous culture of his new company. That leads to stark disagreements on how to proceed forward.

Tim Cook, the Would-Be Robot Overlord?

7/2/2017

Tech Should Serve Humanity, but for How Long?

Earlier this month in an interview with the MIT Technology Review's Nanette Byrnes, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook made the statement that technology “should serve humanity, not the other way around.”

While he calls AI “profound” and increasingly capable of doing unbelievable things, on matters that require judgment he’s not comfortable with automating the human entirely out of the equation. “When technological advancement can go up so exponentially I do think there’s a risk of losing sight of the fact that tech should serve humanity, not the other way around.”

How Apple Could Win the Media War

7/1/2017

Original Content Isn't the Only Way

About two weeks ago, Apple announced that they had hired two prominent TV executives from Sony Television. Any doubt as to whether or not Apple still has grander plans for the future of video content were immediately dispelled. They do, and poaching the executives who helped bring the world “Breaking Bad” is a pretty good start.

Why Apple Has Leapt Ahead of Google on Augmented Reality

6/27/2017

Christopher Baugh writes about Apple’s advantages over Google, even when Google has the initial advantage.

Former Apple Product Design Engineer Discusses Manufacturing at Scale

6/25/2017

And Why Tesla's Model 3 Will Be a Disaster

If you’re either a manufacturing or Apple wonk you should check out Leander Kahney’s interview with former Apple product design engineer, Anna Katrina Shedletsky. The latest podcast of Apple Chat spends time with the now co-founder of Instrumental discussing all manner of hardcore manufacturing science. Her views were formed from spending a lot of time in China getting the iPod and Apple Watch manufacturing lines validated. Anna could easily be a professional podcaster. She's a great communicator without getting too dry.

Who Is Most Favored Now?

6/24/2017

If Apple Was All About Profit the iMac Pro and Mac Pro Wouldn’t Both Exist

The creative class of Mac users no longer has any reason to throw stones at Apple. In the span of only a few weeks they’ve ascended from lonely orphans to most-favored status.

Where Is Siri's True Home?

6/21/2017

HomePod vs Apple Watch

Since Apple’s WWDC (AAPL) unveiling of their upcoming HomePod, many tech pundits have been reading a lot into the fact that Apple put all their focus on the HomePod’s sound quality and not so much its Siri utility. But there may be more to the story than just Apple deciding that “Siri isn’t much improved so let’s hide that fact.”

An Apple HomePod This Year, Apple Camera Next Year?

6/18/2017

One Can Dream

Recently while speaking about Apple’s (AAPL) upcoming HomePod, Phil Schiller made the comment that Apple had so much in-house speaker talent that it was exciting to turn them loose on a new project. And this makes sense considering that these audio specialists must have spent countless hours trying to get tiny speakers in iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks to sound good. They know a thing or two about generating big sound out of relatively small speakers

The Tesla Bubble

6/17/2017

Perhaps no company on the stock exchange exemplifies a bubble stock more than Tesla. To the unemotional eye you can see a poorly managed company which makes mediocre products. And like a teenager about to get swindled by a smooth talking used car salesman, investors buy the story that this clunker could be highly valuable one day.

Should Apple Offer the Apple Watch to Android Users?

6/17/2017

You always hear people say that Apple should make everything cross-platform. These people make that request because it’s good for them. They want the freedom to move back and forth between platforms without having to give up any of their accessories. And Apple would rake in the cash from all those Android users who would start buying Apple Watches and AirPods. Everyone’s happy, right?

iPhone Notifications While Driving Aren’t the Problem

6/15/2017

Apple (AAPL) announced last week that they were going to introduce a new iOS interface for the iPhone while you drive. A completely black screen with automatic replies to your friends that you are driving and can’t respond until later. This is a step in the right direction.

What Separates the iPad from the Mac?

6/15/2017

After Apple’s WWDC unveiling of a slew of iOS 11 enhancements for the iPad I read more than a few snarky comments by journalists. The jokes were along the lines of that what iPad enthusiasts really wanted all along was a Mac. If that is what anyone took away from the iOS 11 unveiling then those people misunderstand why people prefer the iPad.

Google Moving To Blunt Apple's Processor Advantage

6/14/2017

Variety is reporting that Google has poached one of Apple’s (AAPL) key chip designers.

Google has hired a veteran chip architect away from Apple and is now looking to build its own chips for future versions of its flagship Pixel phone, Variety has learned from sources familiar with the hire. Manu Gulati, who had been spearheading Apple’s own chip developments for close to eight years, joined Google in the last few weeks. He publicly announced the job change on his Linkedin profileTuesday morning, stating that he now works as Google’s Lead SoC Architect. -Janko Roettgers

Watch OS4: Runners Rejoice!

6/7/2017

AirPods Are Now My Favorite Wireless Headphones

I’ve installed watchOS 4 on my Series 2 Apple Watch, and I couldn’t be happier. I can finally easily adjust the volume quickly and easily for my AirPods when I’m out running.

Don't Lump All iPhone Features in the Hapless Bucket

6/4/2017

The Power Users vs the Confused

I couldn’t disagree more with including 3D Touch in this New York Times Apple (AAPL) gripe article by Vindu Goel:

A similar lack of enthusiasm among users and developers has limited adoption of the iPhone’s 3-D Touch feature, where a long, hard press on an app sometimes offers additional options such as viewing an email without opening it. And sales of the Apple Watch have been hampered by the steep learning curve it requires of users, who must master pushing, turning and tapping various parts of the watch and a related iPhone app.

The iPhone’s Growing Hardware Kingdom

6/3/2017

Apple's Hardware Advantage

Android users who switch to Apple’s iPhone quickly find one huge advantage to living in the iOS ecosystem. It’s one thing that iPhone users don’t generally talk about because they assume that everyone has the same options. But they don’t. I’m talking about an entire universe of hardware accessories that exists for iPhone users that is unmatched by any other phone, or perhaps any other product, in the world.

Dear Movie Studios, Netflix Is Right

6/1/2017

Why Not Maximize Profit?

Lauren Goode of Recode writes about Netflix CEO Reed Hasting’s prediction that movies will eventually be available in theaters and streaming simultaneously:

Netflix’s chief executive officer has made no secret of the fact that he’d like movies to come to Netflix almost as soon as they’re released in theaters. Today at Recode’s Code Conference, he offered a rather optimistic view of how people will still have their in-theater experience and stream it, too: by likening the theater experience to going out to dinner, as opposed to cooking at home.

Is the iPad More Profitable Than the MacBook Pro?

5/31/2017

It's Hard to Say

I find this question quite intriguing. Since Apple’s MacBook Pro has roughly double the average selling price (ASP) of an iPad, most people would assume that Apple must make a higher gross margin on the MacBook Pro. But that’s not necessarily the case.

Music on the Apple Watch

5/30/2017

Music Acquisition and Control Needs to Improve

I hate to say it but this article is right on the mark. Check out this article in Mashable by Pete Pachal. Apple has poured so much effort into the health and exercise aspect of the watch that other functions seem to have been left behind. Notably, music playback.

In using the Apple Watch day to day, I'm also annoyed that audio playback controls — what I would consider a fundamental feature of the watch — are buried. If you're listening to, say, a podcast, in order to pause playback you first need to move your wrist, press the home button, swipe to the Now Playing "glance" (the term Apple uses for app screens), tap to activate the glance, then tap again to actually press pause. That's five steps for something that should be two at the most. – Pete Pachal, Mashable

Forget Apple? The Next Big Thing from Tesla?

5/29/2017

Moving Bits vs Pounds

In an interview with Bloomberg, Apple (AAPL) Co-founder Steve Wozniak suggested that perhaps Tesla would be the originator of the next big thing in tech as opposed to a large tech company like Apple.

This is laughable. With all due respect to Woz, Tesla specializes in moving people and things. Apple, Google, Facebook etc are truly tech pioneering companies that specialize in moving data and connecting people in new ways. Big difference.

Apple Watches and Electric Cars

5/29/2017

The Mechanical Parallel

Apple’s marvel of miniature electronics, the Apple Watch, has become an indispensable part of my day and points the way to a future when smartphones offload various functions to satellite devices. But to watch purists, this vision of the future is a cold one. In a piece for Business Insider, Dennis Green writes about how Swiss watch maker H. Moser & Cie has crafted a mechanical watch that mimics Apple’s watch.

More than anything I’ve heard, listening to mechanical watch fans talk about smart watches describes how driving enthusiasts feel about electric cars.

No Hillary, You Didn’t Beat Donald Trump

5/27/2017

Why Hillary Can't Claim Popular Vote Victory

In an interview with the New Yorker, Hillary Clinton makes the statement that she beat both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. She’s referring to the fact that she beat both candidates in the popular vote.

That’s like a losing football team saying that they actually won because they gained more offensive yards. Or a losing basketball team saying that they should have won because they grabbed more rebounds. If those were the metrics that determined who won, everyone would have played the game differently.

Yes, Google Tracks Your Credit Card Use

5/27/2017

Google Is Raiding Retailers

I predicted that Google would start tracking purchases via credit card numbers a year ago. I’ll bet some of you thought I was crazy. Reporting for Engadget, Chris Ip wrote a story about how Google is indeed tracking credit card purchases.

First, Google followed you to the store using location data, much like Foursquare. Then its launched its Express shopping service. Now, it will track billions of credit and debit card transactions in an even bigger effort to prove its online ads push users into brick-and-mortar shops.

<<Previous

Forward>>

Does Samsung Make More Money from the iPhone?

Corporations Don’t Need Laptops

Thoughts on Chris Lattner’s Departure from Tesla

Tim Cook, the Would-Be Robot Overlord?

How Apple Could Win the Media War

Why Apple Has Leapt Ahead of Google on Augmented Reality

Former Apple Product Design Engineer Discusses Manufacturing at Scale

Who Is Most Favored Now?

Where Is Siri's True Home?

An Apple HomePod This Year, Apple Camera Next Year?

The Tesla Bubble

Should Apple Offer the Apple Watch to Android Users?

iPhone Notifications While Driving Aren’t the Problem

What Separates the iPad from the Mac?

Google Moving To Blunt Apple's Processor Advantage

Watch OS4: Runners Rejoice!

Don't Lump All iPhone Features in the Hapless Bucket

The iPhone’s Growing Hardware Kingdom

Dear Movie Studios, Netflix Is Right

Is the iPad More Profitable Than the MacBook Pro?

Music on the Apple Watch

Forget Apple? The Next Big Thing from Tesla?

Apple Watches and Electric Cars

No Hillary, You Didn’t Beat Donald Trump

Yes, Google Tracks Your Credit Card Use

Robert Perez

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