
Apple Reports Record Second Quarter Results - tilt
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/04/27Apple-Reports-Record-Second-Quarter-Results.html
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padobson
I'm starting to wonder if maybe Tim Cook is a better CEO than Steve Jobs. No
one will ever have Jobs' combination of taste and presence, but I think these
numbers are showing that spending as much time managing the supply chain and
making inroads into emerging markets is as important as playing with foam
cutouts with Jony Ive.

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geoelectric
You know how it typically takes one CEO to make a newly founded startup viable
and successful, then a transition to another to keep it there? Think that's
what we're seeing here.

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padobson
Yes, on steroids.

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adventured
The dramatic collapse of iPad sales is interesting. A tumble of 23% is huge,
to go with five straight quarters of year-over-year declines.

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cft
Most likely tablets are dead: no room between large phones and ultrabooks.

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retroafroman
I think more likely the market is somewhat saturated. There's not a lot of
compelling reason to upgrade if you have one from the past 2-3 years.

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kenshi
And there are few compelling reasons to develop sophisticated iPad apps
anymore. App prices are low, the platform is buggy, and building a good iPad
app is a more complex and expensive endeavour than building an iPhone app.

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kstrauser
> the platform is buggy, and building a good iPad app is a more complex and
> expensive endeavour than building an iPhone app.

Citation needed? What do you find buggier about iPads than other iOS devices,
and what makes them harder to develop for?

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bsder
iOS as a general platform tends to blast API's more quickly than most
platforms--take a look at all the top-line games that needed special versions
for iOS 8.

In addition, Apple has it's own "private" API's that app developers aren't
allowed to use which makes development more complicated than it has to be.

Finally, iPad's have way more screen size than iPhones. Little things that you
might get away with on a 5 inch screen suddenly look really bad when blow up
to 10 inches.

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hyperpallium
Jobs admired Sony, which introduced and won several new product categories.
But when the founders left, esp Morita, this stopped, though of course they
remain successful to this day - they just aren't creating new product
categories.

Cook, as an operations guy, will keep things running. But can Apple lead new
product categories under him? The Apple Watch seems to be showing he can... If
so, it's something even more impressive than biggest cap etc. Something Sony
didn't manage.

The iPad is dying not because of longer upgrade cycles, but for the same
reason desktops are: it's less convenient than a phone (or watch).

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collyw
Sorry are you trying to say that sending an email from a watch or a phone is
more convenient than an iPad?

I personally think its the novelty factor that wore off. I bought on of the
first net books when they came out, but realized after a while, that a full
sized keyboard outweighed the size benefit.

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MaysonL
A really interesting number is the 4% QoQ increase in Greater China revenue: a
very big Chinese New Year.

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seminal
Some are arguing that the death of the iPad means that Apple is now basically
a one-product company which could be an achilles heel no matter how many
phones are sold.

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gitah
Fun fact: Macbook revenue is now higher than iPad revenue.

So much for the early hype of tablets killing the PC.

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bsder
Great. So Apple completely restructured their OS for a market segment
(tablets) that is now below the original market segment (laptops).

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mcphage
They did? I think they restructured their OS for (a) Mobile, and (b) Mobile
<\---> Computer integration. Both of which should pay off pretty well.

