Apple Is Not THAT Valuable - Polidicks

[quote]Look, I love those guys. It’s a great company. With excellent products. And loyal customers. But Apple is not the most valuable company in America. I’m not sure I understand why it’s even in the top fifty (not to single out Apple, but there a few other companies on the list that I also question). And please… don’t tell me that Apple has more cash than the U.S. government. Just because Apple’s market capitalization exceeded everyone else’s market capitalization for a short time, that doesn’t make it the most valuable company in America. There are too many other factors, intangible factors, that make up a company’s value. For example, [b]Apple’s wealth is built on amazing, game-changing products like the iPod, iPhone, iPad and MacBook. Their ability to innovate has been second to none over the past few years. But the value of these products is fleeting. These are not technologies that build infrastructure or that are mission critical for getting business done. These are gadgets used by teenagers who bite their nails and adults who want something cool to divert themselves from the boredom of their jobs. The minute that a new device is introduced the public is already clamoring for the next version. Competitors produce cheaper copycat products within weeks. My kids can barely sit still through a three minute video on YouTube. They want something new and entertaining thrown at them again and again. This is the market that Apple sells to. It’s a fickle market. One or two mis-steps and suddenly the media is criticizing. And their customers get bored. And the next new thing comes along.[/b] Ask the guys who make Crocs and Tickle Me Elmo. Ask the cast of Desperate Housewives. Ask anyone still doing the fist pump (do people still do this?). We’re talking about the most valuable of all companies in America, the largest economy in the world. Just look at the other guys on this list. These are non-tech companies like Johnson & Johnson, General Electric and Proctor & Gamble. They don’t suffer from this problem. They have hundreds of different products and sell to many different markets. They introduce, re-introduce, and change their products constantly.[b] Apple, being so limited in its product offerings, doesn’t have this luxury. A few mistakes in marketing, development, product quality or production planning and bye-bye stock price.[/b] [b]Another thing the company is missing is a significant, recurring revenue stream. Valuable tech companies have this. Microsoft earns significant profits from its ongoing software maintenance and support plans. IBM has long term service and project contracts. Cisco and Intel, who make parts critical to keep our entire worldwide network still working, have huge supply agreements with huge customers that extend for years. Can Apple give this kind of assurance to a prospective buyer?[/b] I know I can’t – my company goes from contract to contract, deal to deal. My backlog, at least in terms of months, may not be much different from Apple’s. Another thing to be factored: [b]Apple does not have a broad base of partners who sell and service their products. And history shows that truly valuable technology companies build their value from this base. Look at those same companies I just mentioned who are amongst the top ten in market capitalization. Microsoft has thousands of resellers, developers and consultants. So do IBM, Intel and Cisco. Apple’s channel partners are cell phone providers and retail outlets. These are people who would switch allegiances and sell their mothers tomorrow if it would increase their margins .01%. The company has its own retail stores. They sell directly to their customers. Their biggest cheerleaders are consumers but these same consumers are happy to buy any new technology that makes them seem cooler than the next guy. There’s no middleman teaching them the value of what they have, helping them to use it better, recommending other technologies that complement it and supporting them when they get frustrated.[/b] Technology firms that create value are the ones that build channels of partners. Because technology requires service. These partners are their sales and service arm. Their customers and clients listen to their recommendations. They build their own businesses around a company’s products and therefore have a vested interest in seeing that company succeed. Any credible potential suitor of a tech company looks at this channel as a critical part of the company’s value. Finally, [b]Apple also suffers from the same problem that plagues many small companies: reliance on the top guy. Readers of Michael Gerber’s classic book on small business management, The E-Myth, will know what I’m talking about. No matter how much I want to believe differently, if I were to get hit by a bus tomorrow my company would fold in on itself within weeks. Unfortunately, I am the value of my company. But is my company that much different from Apple? Can anyone really name another executive at Apple? If, God forbid, something should happen to Steve Jobs would they still be the most valuable company in America? Of course not. Apple’s stock would fall, dramatically.[/b] If someone was crazy enough to buy my company he would only do so if I came on as part of the deal. That’s not unusual. And if someone would be interested in purchasing Apple, would they pay the same price if Steve Jobs wasn’t part of the deal? It’s unlikely. [b]This is not evidence of a truly valuable company. It’s pop-culture. And it’s fleeting.[/b] I really do love Apple, but don’t believe it when people say they’re the most valuable company in America. When it comes to tech companies, there are other factors to consider. Here’s something you can believe: it does rain a lot in London. And cricket is definitely not a sport. Who stops for tea in the middle of a game? [url]http://news.yahoo.com/apple-not-valuable-121626162.html[/url][/quote] This is so fucking god damn true. Read the comments of the article too. It will make you rage.

[quote]Apple, being so limited in its product offerings, doesn’t have this luxury. A few mistakes in marketing, development, product quality or production planning and bye-bye stock price. [/quote] Debateable. If that was the case, they would of been fucked on defective batteries and leaking cooling systems years ago.

[quote]"And cricket is definitely not a sport." You are damn right. Cricket is an insect.[/quote] [IMG]http://dorquemada.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/shaun-cricket-bat-dead.jpg[/IMG]

This article made me laugh. But wait. Why would you or anyone think that Apple is the best company? LOL. No company is the best company. They are proficient in their own ways.

Only problem is that there will always be these teens and adults who buy these products. There will always be people out there that want the label of Apple.

The Macs and iPods have become a symbol of having wealth in my school. Everybody once they save up enough money will get a Macbook without putting any thought into what they want out of a computer. And I knew that their actual value was a little sketchy. Economics is such a confusing thing.

[QUOTE=Dark-Energy;31751047]Read the comments of the article too. It will make you rage.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]You have more money than the US Government? You have the ability to print money? You sir, are an idiot.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I think I'm going to stop, my eyes are bleeding.

A few of those comments made my piss boil.

[QUOTE=Mr. Sun;31751339]The Macs and iPods have become a symbol of having wealth in my school. Everybody once they save up enough money will get a Macbook without putting any thought into what they want out of a computer. And I knew that their actual value was a little sketchy. Economics is such a confusing thing.[/QUOTE] They're largely a symbol of being a giant douchebag in my country from what I've seen.

[QUOTE=Dark-Energy;31751047]This is so fucking god damn true. Read the comments of the article too. It will make you rage.[/QUOTE] Yahoo comments, of course they'll make us rage. It's worse than youtube.

[QUOTE=Mr. Sun;31751339]The Macs and iPods have become a symbol of having wealth in my school. Everybody once they save up enough money will get a Macbook without putting any thought into what they want out of a computer. And I knew that their actual value was a little sketchy. Economics is such a confusing thing.[/QUOTE] Someone called my Android phone which cost more than a iPhone, a poor mans iPhone.

[QUOTE=Intoxicated Spy;31751529]Someone called my Android phone which cost more than a iPhone, a poor mans iPhone.[/QUOTE] I hate morons like that, even the cheapest Android phone is so much more capable out of the box.

[QUOTE=MIPS;31751098]Debateable. If that was the case, they would of been fucked on defective batteries and leaking cooling systems years ago.[/QUOTE] Lots of tech manufactures have defective batteries and that doesn't fuck them over. My Samsung HDTV fucked up because they use 10V caps on a 12V circuit board, which has affected almost all of the TVs, yet nothing happened to the company. Sure yeah, they lost money, but didn't go out of business.

To be honest i don't care a bit how big the company is that made my computer. I respect people that like their hardware, but fanboyism just sucks. There's no reason for this thread other than having an opportunity to bash. I think everything mentioned in that article is pretty obvious. While some is not true, it's stupid to think short term success compares to companies that have been succesfully in a business for a long time. Apple crashed before. Just saying. Look at Nintendo. Same problem as Apple. I'd argue Itunes does Apple well though.

What bugs be about apple in particular Isn't their products, its the people who blindly buy their products claiming that they are the best product in the world and nothing could beat them no matter what.

[QUOTE=Nevermind.;31752019][B]What bugs be about apple in particular Isn't their products[/B], its the people who blindly buy their products claiming that they are the best product in the world and nothing could beat them no matter what.[/QUOTE] What about all the false advertisements from Apple then? Like the ones where they claims the new features added in their software are revolutionary and no one else has done it before, as well as their false claims about how their hardwares are always the fastest?

Custom-handbuilt-PC Master Race [editline]today[/editline] Ignore that I'm on a Mac by the way

[QUOTE=sami-elite;31751911]To be honest i don't care a bit how big the company is that made my computer. I respect people that like their hardware, but fanboyism just sucks. There's no reason for this thread other than having an opportunity to bash. I think everything mentioned in that article is pretty obvious. While some is not true, it's stupid to think short term success compares to companies that have been succesfully in a business for a long time. Apple crashed before. Just saying. Look at Nintendo. Same problem as Apple. I'd argue Itunes does Apple well though.[/QUOTE] The point is not to bash but to point out that apple is not as valuable as everyone thinks just because the amount of cash they had in their pockets.

[QUOTE=B!N4RY;31752184]What about all the false advertisements from Apple then? Like the ones where they claims the new features added in their software are revolutionary and no one else has done it before, as well as their false claims about how their hardwares are always the fastest?[/QUOTE] Shitty underclocked processors with an operating system that does nothing accounts for their devices speed, thats all.

[QUOTE=B!N4RY;31752184]What about all the false advertisements from Apple then? Like the ones where they claims the new features added in their software are revolutionary and no one else has done it before, as well as their false claims about how their hardwares are always the fastest?[/QUOTE] The false claims I can take, its the ignorant people who blindly defend apple that bugs me. I guess the false claims are bad too though.

[quote][b]Their ability to innovate has been second to none over the past few years[/b][/quote] How exactly is Apple "innovative"? Almost everything they have done in the past few years was done before.

Cricket is a sport, It is a boring sport but a sport nonetheless. Nobody who has anything at all in their life will watch a test series (a total of 25 days of play)

The biggest threat to apple is a new hip and cool company. Imagine if Googles start to make new phones and even computer perhaps it will be the next big thing and all the douchebags and idiots around the world will start buy that instead. Apple is vulnerable. *I wasn't trying to be funny :( no one takes me serious :suicide:

[QUOTE=Mandrith;31752524]How exactly is Apple "innovative"? Almost everything they have done in the past few years was done before.[/QUOTE] They made small white pieces of overpriced technology..I don't recall any other company doing this.

[QUOTE=Hazard Fox;31752696]They made small white pieces of overpriced technology..I don't recall any other company doing this.[/QUOTE] I think Bose sells white stereos

[QUOTE=Sexy Eskimo;31752552]The biggest threat to apple is a new hip and cool company. Imagine if Googles start to make new phones and even computer perhaps it will be the next big thing and all the douchebags and idiots around the world will start buy that instead. Apple is vulnerable.[/QUOTE] I suppose Google could try and make ChromeOS as useless as OSX, none mainstream OS's, I can hear the hipsters foaming already.

[QUOTE=Dark-Energy;31752222]The point is not to bash but to point out that apple is not as valuable as everyone thinks just because the amount of cash they had in their pockets.[/QUOTE] How valuable do you think we think it is?

[QUOTE=Danny Phantom;31751221]This article made me laugh. But wait. Why would you or anyone think that Apple is the best company? LOL. No company is the best company. They are proficient in their own ways.[/QUOTE] Everything they make sells.

[QUOTE=Mandrith;31752524]How exactly is Apple "innovative"? Almost everything they have done in the past few years was done before.[/QUOTE] I had to google the meaning to be sure but if you want to innovate you have to be able to reach people. If you have this great device but it's not going to change the way things work, you have not innovated anything. You've just invented something new. [quote]Make changes in something established, esp. by introducing new methods, ideas, or products.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Rick Ross;31753015]Everything they make sells.[/QUOTE] The apple/bandai pippin, the apple lisa, the iPod shuffle, the apple III, the apple newton, the macintosh portable.