Should Apple Be Worried About Microsoft's Tablet? [View article]
Personally. I have the Microsoft fatigue. I get stuck using Microsoft PC, Microsoft Office all day long in office at work. dealing with various issues like performance, crash, freezing - granted not all MSFT's fault, some of them due to in-house support, probablem with other (non-MSFT) apps we use here. So stepping out of office - I just don't want to use MSFT products .. I am feeling tired just hearing "Microsoft", "Windows".. so I agree with what the first commenter wrote above.
"the iPhone 5 was outshone by the Galaxy S and yes the iPad mini is missing expectations" - Please, do you basic research, get your numbers straight, before writing the article.
Doug Kass doesn't pull any punches in making a bear case for Apple (AAPL +0.9%). The iPhone 5 "feels like a toy," Kass writes, while claiming Steve Jobs would have never "let it go out the door like that." With Jobs gone, Apple risks "losing that magical Walt Disney feeling," he adds. Kass, who shorted Apple in winter (that hasn't worked out well), also believes Apple is "losing mojo and mindshare" to Samsung, and predicts his fears might start to be realized after the December quarter. [View news story]
http://bit.ly/VBbBDj - MUST READ, the one really true expert on AAPL is talking - "Apple $1000: Why Doug Kass will miss the next 50% move"
Apple Schooled Nokia On Launching New Products [View article]
I can't believe to this date there are still people attribute Apple's success to "Marketing". The very least - superb execution. and if you are still comparing spec sheets - you need to step in the new ear of mobile devices - yes it's about hardware, but it's more about software, and most importantly, it's about ecosystem!
don't get me wrong, Lumia 920 is a good-looking phone and good to see more different platforms on the market - and do enjoy your Lumia 920 (whenever they will actually ready to sell). but I am just a little sick of all the hardware spec talks. Sine we are on the subject, Apple is often conservative to adopt specific new technology because they want to make want to wait until it matures, or want to make sure the inclusion will sure bring good values to the customers. LTE, NFC - are two examples. Apple considered adding NFC to 4S last year and management decided against it in the last moment for concerns about security and doubts about if NFC is the right technology for mobile payment. Apple does does not add features just so they can complete the check list - and I highly respect that. It's so laughable all those "Apple playing catch-up talk".
If the rumors of a Facebook (FB) phone are true, investors should consider abandoning ship, says Henry Blodget. The company would have to face intense and entrenched competition to establish itself in a field that could hurt its own margins in a move that smacks of defensive desperation. [View news story]
Man .. women to sell FB phones to - don't forget the cats & dogs as well ..
and what makes you think just because someone has an FB account he/she wants a FB phone ?
I have a FB account out of necessity - to keep in touch with my larger circle of friends. I check my account every a couple of days but do not dwell long. As a happy camper of Apple products, I will never get an FB phone, even if it's free as I don't want to carry two phones. Most of my friends are like me - how they use their FB accounts or some simply resist to have an FB accounts. If FB cuts of native app access on other platforms, I'll tolerate accessing from web.
Sure everything is possible - FB can be as good as Apple in hardware design, platform, ecosystem, and beat Apple on supply chain. While at the same time, kill Android/google, Microsoft .. along the way. but let's just say it's no trivial matter. Speaking of margin - in the mobil market, Apple grabs 70% of revenue, Samsung about 25%, HTC 1%, the rest are not making money or losing money. Apple does not get to where it is by one or two tricks.
and FB will never be able to get to billions of people in China. Even if it's not blocked, FB will not be able to compete with the giangantic home grown social networks there.
The Most Important Information From Amazon's Q1 [View article]
Regarding "China is growing very fast" - do we know of any data to back up?
Since I can't find any, I did a little digging on Chinese web sites (I am Chinese).
from the market research firm iResearch.com (a leading market research firm specializing in e-Commerce, online media ..) in China - Amazon China moves between 3rd or 4th place in China in B2C platforms - 3rd in the latest quarter with 3.5% market share - after 7 years in China. First place TMall and second place 360buy enjoys huge leads of of 50.1% and 22.7% respectively.
Perhaps someone will say it represents a huge upside for Amazon in China. Not really. China is a tough market to crack for online/web business models. Even before Google left Chinese market, local grown Baidu was a formidable competitor. Most Chinese I knew including myself when used Baidu.com for Chinese contents and google for english contents. Similarly, Chinese version of the twitter - there are several of them - grew like wildfire, even if Twitter was not blocked by government, the local versions would still be more poplar.
Coming back to online retail - I have hardly heard (actually never) my Chinese friends mentoring using Amazon.cn, most of them shop on other Chinese B2C or C2C platforms. I live in HK, there were actually a couple of times I wanted to order something (being an overseas I am more familiar with Amazon) from Amazon China, but the shipping to Hk was too high and I ended up with getting the stuff from Taobao (dominating C2C in China). I lived in japan for a long time and had similar experience that local grown online shopping is a lot more popular then Amazon.co.jp.
I just saw this Feb 2012 report from iResearch's chief analyst : http://bit.ly/Kh03xB (page 11) - it's in Chinese, but Amazon is in dark blue in the bar chart. It shows Amazon't market share in China has been shrinking. Note this analysis includes Taobao which is mostly C2C. The table on the right is the rate of increase (Amazon is the one listed below "VANCL")
I don;t know how Amazon can compete and win here. Amazon is crippled from cultural stand point - it won't be able to just undercutting its competitors with lower prices. Perhaps better customer service, better inventory management ? are they enough, and the Chinese won't catch up (I don't even know if there is a gap there).
General retail is tough to gain grounds in China - The big French supermarket Carrefour has struggled in China for 15 years and has recently rumored to leave China. McDonalds, Starbucks and Coca Cola are doing great in China because they are selling a culture, a brand. Amazon.cn still sells the same Chinese stuff as TMall, 360Buy and Taobao.
iResearch Amazon China 2011 sales totaled 6B RMB (Don't think Amazon has shared any Chinese market data ?) - facing a lot more competition, their margin in China cannot be higher then what they have in US.
so sick of the old comparisons to Sony, Nokia .. and the "now Steve Jobs is not there anymore" - go really study and understand the company, its markets, its earning power, its trajectory ...
This article is littered with overly simplistic, subjective, comparisons that are simply misleading and useless. Just like when the infamous AAPL bear David Kass ovlaying two charts and suggesting AAPL is crashing down: http://read.bi/zuW8zq
Apple (AAPL) wants Judge Koh to award another $707M in damages from Samsung (SSNLF.PK) on top of the $1.05B a San Jose jury awarded the company last month, as well as a permanent ban on 26 Samsung smartphones (it was previously looking for just 8) and 3 tablets come Dec. 6. Samsung wants a re-trial, alleging the time constraints of the California trial "prevented Samsung from presenting a full and fair case." Neither side will be giving its patent lawyers a break anytime soon. [View news story]
Apple (AAPL) wants Judge Koh to award another $707M in damages from Samsung (SSNLF.PK) on top of the $1.05B a San Jose jury awarded the company last month, as well as a permanent ban on 26 Samsung smartphones (it was previously looking for just 8) and 3 tablets come Dec. 6. Samsung wants a re-trial, alleging the time constraints of the California trial "prevented Samsung from presenting a full and fair case." Neither side will be giving its patent lawyers a break anytime soon. [View news story]
Let's see, 2007 - iPhone, 2008 - Mac Book Air, 2010 - iPad, 2012 - Retina Mac Book Pro (sets the new standard for the industry again!) ..
Each one of them is copied by SamSung (and others).
and what did SamSung do instead of copying ? oh the 5'' screen on their phones .. but who can't do that ? as a matter of fact it's a lot harder to make up compact then size up. Oh, I know I left something out - Stylus!
be careful about the earning running up - last quarter 9 down days out of 10 days leaning to earning day. huge pop after the earning then down trend resumed. I hope it's different this time.
Is the Facebook IPO hurting Apple (AAPL -1.8%)? As shares fall further below the levels they traded at prior to Apple's strong FQ2 report, one theory making the rounds is that NASDAQ index funds are selling to make room for Facebook and its likely $100B+ market cap. In addition, Bloomberg reports a number of major hedge funds, including SAC Capital and Viking Global, took profits on Apple in Q1, though they collectively still held 37.8M shares at quarter's end. [View news story]
Apple's Drop Now Too Large To Ignore [View article]
It's quite obvious that one of the factors is MMs pulling out of Apple to make quick bucks on FB IPO. Apple is in its annual resting/slingshot pullback/correction (whatever you call it!) period, why not take the fund to chase off other stocks, then come back and drive another AAPL run-up? that's what PROs do and that's how the game is played. I am not a bit worried and going to add more position in the next 2-3 days - near term catalyst: Tim Cook's keynote speech @D10 end of May; WWDC in June.
Should Apple Be Worried About Microsoft's Tablet? [View article]
My Once-A-Year Article On Apple [View article]
Doug Kass doesn't pull any punches in making a bear case for Apple (AAPL +0.9%). The iPhone 5 "feels like a toy," Kass writes, while claiming Steve Jobs would have never "let it go out the door like that." With Jobs gone, Apple risks "losing that magical Walt Disney feeling," he adds. Kass, who shorted Apple in winter (that hasn't worked out well), also believes Apple is "losing mojo and mindshare" to Samsung, and predicts his fears might start to be realized after the December quarter. [View news story]
The Apple Bubble Is Ready To Burst [View article]
Apple Schooled Nokia On Launching New Products [View article]
don't get me wrong, Lumia 920 is a good-looking phone and good to see more different platforms on the market - and do enjoy your Lumia 920 (whenever they will actually ready to sell). but I am just a little sick of all the hardware spec talks. Sine we are on the subject, Apple is often conservative to adopt specific new technology because they want to make want to wait until it matures, or want to make sure the inclusion will sure bring good values to the customers. LTE, NFC - are two examples. Apple considered adding NFC to 4S last year and management decided against it in the last moment for concerns about security and doubts about if NFC is the right technology for mobile payment. Apple does does not add features just so they can complete the check list - and I highly respect that. It's so laughable all those "Apple playing catch-up talk".
If the rumors of a Facebook (FB) phone are true, investors should consider abandoning ship, says Henry Blodget. The company would have to face intense and entrenched competition to establish itself in a field that could hurt its own margins in a move that smacks of defensive desperation. [View news story]
and what makes you think just because someone has an FB account he/she wants a FB phone ?
I have a FB account out of necessity - to keep in touch with my larger circle of friends. I check my account every a couple of days but do not dwell long. As a happy camper of Apple products, I will never get an FB phone, even if it's free as I don't want to carry two phones.
Most of my friends are like me - how they use their FB accounts or some simply resist to have an FB accounts. If FB cuts of native app access on other platforms, I'll tolerate accessing from web.
Sure everything is possible - FB can be as good as Apple in hardware design, platform, ecosystem, and beat Apple on supply chain. While at the same time, kill Android/google, Microsoft .. along the way. but let's just say it's no trivial matter. Speaking of margin - in the mobil market, Apple grabs 70% of revenue, Samsung about 25%, HTC 1%, the rest are not making money or losing money. Apple does not get to where it is by one or two tricks.
and FB will never be able to get to billions of people in China. Even if it's not blocked, FB will not be able to compete with the giangantic home grown social networks there.
Apple's Worst Enemy: Apple [View article]
The Most Important Information From Amazon's Q1 [View article]
Since I can't find any, I did a little digging on Chinese web sites (I am Chinese).
from the market research firm iResearch.com (a leading market research firm specializing in e-Commerce, online media ..) in China - Amazon China moves between 3rd or 4th place in China in B2C platforms - 3rd in the latest quarter with 3.5% market share - after 7 years in China. First place TMall and second place 360buy enjoys huge leads of of 50.1% and 22.7% respectively.
Perhaps someone will say it represents a huge upside for Amazon in China. Not really. China is a tough market to crack for online/web business models. Even before Google left Chinese market, local grown Baidu was a formidable competitor. Most Chinese I knew including myself when used Baidu.com for Chinese contents and google for english contents. Similarly, Chinese version of the twitter - there are several of them - grew like wildfire, even if Twitter was not blocked by government, the local versions would still be more poplar.
Coming back to online retail - I have hardly heard (actually never) my Chinese friends mentoring using Amazon.cn, most of them shop on other Chinese B2C or C2C platforms. I live in HK, there were actually a couple of times I wanted to order something (being an overseas I am more familiar with Amazon) from Amazon China, but the shipping to Hk was too high and I ended up with getting the stuff from Taobao (dominating C2C in China). I lived in japan for a long time and had similar experience that local grown online shopping is a lot more popular then Amazon.co.jp.
I just saw this Feb 2012 report from iResearch's chief analyst : http://bit.ly/Kh03xB (page 11) - it's in Chinese, but Amazon is in dark blue in the bar chart. It shows Amazon't market share in China has been shrinking. Note this analysis includes Taobao which is mostly C2C. The table on the right is the rate of increase (Amazon is the one listed below "VANCL")
I don;t know how Amazon can compete and win here. Amazon is crippled from cultural stand point - it won't be able to just undercutting its competitors with lower prices. Perhaps better customer service, better inventory management ? are they enough, and the Chinese won't catch up (I don't even know if there is a gap there).
General retail is tough to gain grounds in China - The big French supermarket Carrefour has struggled in China for 15 years and has recently rumored to leave China. McDonalds, Starbucks and Coca Cola are doing great in China because they are selling a culture, a brand. Amazon.cn still sells the same Chinese stuff as TMall, 360Buy and Taobao.
iResearch Amazon China 2011 sales totaled 6B RMB (Don't think Amazon has shared any Chinese market data ?) - facing a lot more competition, their margin in China cannot be higher then what they have in US.
Is The Post-Jobs Apple Still A Buy 1 Year Later? [View article]
http://bullishcross.com
http://bit.ly/SOKSEv
Excellent article in AAPL investor psychology:
http://bit.ly/QcnDA6
so sick of the old comparisons to Sony, Nokia .. and the "now Steve Jobs is not there anymore" - go really study and understand the company, its markets, its earning power, its trajectory ...
This article is littered with overly simplistic, subjective, comparisons that are simply misleading and useless. Just like when the infamous AAPL bear David Kass ovlaying two charts and suggesting AAPL is crashing down:
http://read.bi/zuW8zq
Apple (AAPL) wants Judge Koh to award another $707M in damages from Samsung (SSNLF.PK) on top of the $1.05B a San Jose jury awarded the company last month, as well as a permanent ban on 26 Samsung smartphones (it was previously looking for just 8) and 3 tablets come Dec. 6. Samsung wants a re-trial, alleging the time constraints of the California trial "prevented Samsung from presenting a full and fair case." Neither side will be giving its patent lawyers a break anytime soon. [View news story]
Apple (AAPL) wants Judge Koh to award another $707M in damages from Samsung (SSNLF.PK) on top of the $1.05B a San Jose jury awarded the company last month, as well as a permanent ban on 26 Samsung smartphones (it was previously looking for just 8) and 3 tablets come Dec. 6. Samsung wants a re-trial, alleging the time constraints of the California trial "prevented Samsung from presenting a full and fair case." Neither side will be giving its patent lawyers a break anytime soon. [View news story]
Each one of them is copied by SamSung (and others).
and what did SamSung do instead of copying ? oh the 5'' screen on their phones .. but who can't do that ? as a matter of fact it's a lot harder to make up compact then size up. Oh, I know I left something out - Stylus!
Apple: Still Tops At The Top End? [View article]
Apple's June Quarter: The Halftime Report [View article]
http://bit.ly/K4CVVM
Is the Facebook IPO hurting Apple (AAPL -1.8%)? As shares fall further below the levels they traded at prior to Apple's strong FQ2 report, one theory making the rounds is that NASDAQ index funds are selling to make room for Facebook and its likely $100B+ market cap. In addition, Bloomberg reports a number of major hedge funds, including SAC Capital and Viking Global, took profits on Apple in Q1, though they collectively still held 37.8M shares at quarter's end. [View news story]
Apple's Drop Now Too Large To Ignore [View article]