Apple's iPhone destroys Samsung in South Korean customer satisfaction rankings

Apple Insider ^ | Friday, May 09, 2014, 04:02 pm PT (07:02 pm ET) | By Daniel Eran Dilger

[luckystarmom]

I also think most engineers have PCs at home because they can tinker with them easier. I thinking sharing data between an android phone and a PC is easier than sharing between a PC and an Apple device. I’m thinking engineers also like tinkering with the android phones also.

I’m just glad there is variety and you can pick the device that suits you best. I’m guessing I will have to upgrade to a new tablet in the next year. I didn’t have any choices when I first got my iPad, but now there are so many choices!

[adorno]

The Apple fanatics will always give high praise to their preference. There is no rhyme or reason to it: it’s just that, Apple has a cult following. It’s like blacks voting for a black candidate, no matter how distant that candidate is from what’s good and prudent for those voters.

Ask a Muslim how he ranks his religion against all religions, and the answer will be 100% Muslim.

Apple has a cult following, no matter where they are.

As far as the merits of iPhone being better than the S5, that’s a bunch of hooey. Most other smartphones on the market in the last 2-3 years, are much better than even the the 5S. That is why Apple is scrambling to catch up with the market for screen sizes and resolutions and features.

[Swordmaker]

I didn’t say that every Apple customer was in the cult. Its just the ones like you who defend it with a crusaderlike zeal. It’s creepy.

Yes, you did. You did not limit your statement. . . The creepy ones are those who enter a thread like this one and proceed to gratuitously insult over 500 million people. . . We don't insult YOU! Enjoy your choice.

[Swordmaker]

As far as the merits of iPhone being better than the S5, that’s a bunch of hooey. Most other smartphones on the market in the last 2-3 years, are much better than even the the 5S. That is why Apple is scrambling to catch up with the market for screen sizes and resolutions and features.

How many iPhone 5S were sold last quarter? 51 million! More than ANY OTHER smartphone on the market! Show me any other smartphone that includes a 64bit processor and operating system, as well as 64 bit apps. Resolution beyond what the human eye can resolve is mere hype and an unnecessary drag on system resources to drive useless pixels. Apple is in no hurry to introduce larger screens, although they most likely can and will, because they are already selling every iPhone they can make now. They are increasing capacity as fast as they can to keep up with the demand. . . and still have order backlogs in emerging markets. So, no, they are NOT scrambling. Samsung added features to the S5 to match what the iPhone 5S introduced, only they turned out to be unsophisticated, poorly working copies. None of those Android phones beat the speeds of the iPhone 5S and only one, because it has lots of room in it for huge batteries, the Samsung Galaxy Note, exceeds battery life. . . and the S5 does it by becoming DUMB. Great feature.

Reviewers are saying the S5 is a rehash of the S4. . . and offers no reason to upgrade.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Freepmail.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Sword,
I suspect no manufacturer knows yet what screen size is the “right one” - and it is likely that “right” screen size is an individual decision.

I’m sure you know rumors say Apple will introduce a larger screen on the iPhone 6 in September.

I’ve also spoken recently with someone who had a large screen Android and felt it was impractical. He got rid of it and shifted to the iPhone 5S. As a Verizon employee, he could have chosen any of the phones they offered.

In the end, I’m thankful Apple has competitors. Competition makes everyone better and we all benefit. If that means some people prefer the Android system, great. It keeps the world in balance.

[Swordmaker]

I also think most engineers have PCs at home because they can tinker with them easier. I thinking sharing data between an android phone and a PC is easier than sharing between a PC and an Apple device. I’m thinking engineers also like tinkering with the android phones also.

Take a look at the next conference of engineers and/or scientists and see what laptop computers they've brought with them. You'd be mightily surprised to see very few with PCs. In fact, take a look at this photo of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory "War Room" after the Curiosity Mission had landed on Mars. What's on the desks' of the engineers and Scientists?

This image shows Curiosity's Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) "war room" and its staff.
On the night of Aug. 5, 2012 PDT (early morning Aug. 6 EDT), 34 engineers
gathered in this room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.,
to support the landing. Twenty-five engineers are pictured here.
From the left, back row, they are:
Luis Dominguez, Armen Toorian, Allen Kummer, Dan Scharf, Jaime Catchen,
Chuck Baker, Nadin Cox, Matt Lenda, Steve Lee, Genevie Yang and Richard Kornfeld at the end.
Starting from the top of the table and moving left are:
Paul Brugarolas, Lynn McGrew, Aaron Stehura, Steve Sell, Devin Kipp,
Jeremy Shidner, Corey Harmon and David Way.
In the closest row, from the left, are:
Matt Rozek, Ravi Prakash, Dick Powell, Jody Davis, Gavin Mendeck and Jordi Casoliva.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Notice that most of the computers these engineers and scientists have chosen to use are Apple Macs. Is that becausre they make these scientists and engineers look cool? or could it be because they're the best tool they've found to buy for their personal use?

How about the JPL Curiosity control center?

[adorno]

How many iPhone 5S were sold last quarter? 51 million! More than ANY OTHER smartphone on the market!

So, to you, the number of devices sold, automatically means that, it's the best?

iPhones "redefined" the smartphone space, and they enjoyed a lead for several years, and it also developed a cult following for Apple. A cult following can oftentimes keep a company afloat for years.

Oftentimes, the first one out, enjoys the market lead for a while. The market leader is no longer Apple, nor iOS-based iPhones or iPads. They have been eclipsed by the competition, and they're actually in danger of being surpassed by WP in a bunch of markets, and could end up being in 3rd place in another 2 years, behind Android and Windows Phones.

Show me any other smartphone that includes a 64bit processor and operating system, as well as 64 bit apps.

The 64 bit processor is nothing more than a marketing ploy, since there is really no significant advantage to having a 64 bit processor at the moment, when the vast majority of apps are designed for 32 bits. Even the few apps that might support 64 bits, are unnecessary and useless. iOS 7 might support 64 bits, but it's still an OS that is falling behind the capabilities of Android and WP. Apple has a ways to go before they can come up with something that approaches WP capabilities.

Resolution beyond what the human eye can resolve is mere hype and an unnecessary drag on system resources to drive useless pixels.

Yet, it was a very big deal when Apple was touting their retina displays a few years back, and now that they've fallen behind the competition in resolution and screen sizes, you cult followers are no longer wanting to talk about resolution and screen sizes. Figures.

Apple is in no hurry to introduce larger screens, although they most likely can and will, because they are already selling every iPhone they can make now.

Bullspit!

Apple was caught with their pants down, in respect to resolutions and screen sizes. That is why they're not scrambling to come out with screen sizes greater than 5 inches, and as big as 6 inches or more. No doubt that when they do introduce the 5 and 6 inch screens, it will be hailed as the next great innovation by Apple, and they will sell tons of them. But, they'd still be years behind the competition in screen sizes and resolution.

They are increasing capacity as fast as they can to keep up with the demand. . . and still have order backlogs in emerging markets.

That's a lot of bloviation.

Apple sold a lot less iPhones than they and Wall Street expected, and they've never had to use the excuse that they didn't have enough supply to meet the demand. Now, because their sales are not meeting expectations, they're having to come up with excuses.

The emerging markets are not where Apple's future lies. Apple cannot compete against the low price leaders, that being Android phones and Windows phones, and a lot of the cheap Chinese stuff that's coming out in the next few months and years. Apple is stuck with their cult followers, who are willing to pay any price to keep their religion alive.

So, no, they are NOT scrambling.

Yes. They are scrambling and they are desperate to introduce something that will keep up with the competition. Apple is no longer the "innovator" that they were 7+ years ago. They are now the followers.

Samsung added features to the S5 to match what the iPhone 5S introduced, only they turned out to be unsophisticated, poorly working copies.

The S5 is not really that much of an improvement over the S4, or even the S3, but still, those phones are better than the iPhone 5S and already have what the iPhone 6 will be getting, at least a year later. Heck, my LG G2 smartphone, is way better than the 5S, and the iPHone 6 will only be catching up to it when it's release in the fall. That's one year behind my purchase of the LG G2.

None of those Android phones beat the speeds of the iPhone 5S and only one,

So, why the heck does anyone need a smartphone that is only meagerly faster than even the lowest spec smartphone out there? A smartphone doesn't need to be real fast to get the needs of the user met. How fast does a smartphone need to be when a person is texting, or talking on the phone feature, or just viewing Facebook or doing search or e-mail or Twitter, or even viewing a movie? Some features are just meant as marketing poo.

because it has lots of room in it for huge batteries, the Samsung Galaxy Note, exceeds battery life. . . and the S5 does it by becoming DUMB. Great feature.

Fact is that, there are now a bunch of phones with longer battery life than the iPHones, even with the larger screens and higher resolutions. My LG G2 gives me 12+ hours with heavy usage, and when sleep mode, can last weeks, and with medium usage, perhaps 18+ hours. That's plenty enough for any smartphone. Face it, the advantages that iPhones used to enjoy, are not there anymore.

Reviewers are saying the S5 is a rehash of the S4. . . and offers no reason to upgrade.

I agree with that. In fact, for most people, what they bought a few years ago, is still good enough for most of what they do. There aren't any new apps that require the kind of power and features that the new crop of smartphones now offer.

But, what those reviewers say about the S5, was also true about the 5S, which didn't really offer much new, other than a 64 bit overkill processor, and fingerprint scan, which isn't really that useful, and a slightly upgraded iOS, which is really falling behind Android and WP in capabilities.

But, I'm not trying to talk you out of your apparent need to defend the hive. I just like to see things in proper perspective. Apple is no longer the leader of the pack, other than in that, they're still bringing in lots of revenue and profits. That too is going to change, and Apple will be right back to where they were 10 years ago: an also ran in technology. Heck, I see them becoming material for a takeover or a merger in about 3-5 years, when their market cap will have dwindled to HP territory. ;)

[Swordmaker]

Apple sold a lot less iPhones than they and Wall Street expected, and they've never had to use the excuse that they didn't have enough supply to meet the demand. Now, because their sales are not meeting expectations, they're having to come up with excuses.

REALLY? Which "Wall Street" is that? And who is "they?"

Apple posts Record Quarter, record iPhone sales at 51 million—First Quarter 2014

Apple blows Away ALL Street Analysts, BREAKS Quarter iPhone sales record with 43.7 million sold, stock splits seven-for-one!—Second Quarter 2014

And here are the real expectations of Wall Street. . . And the top row is the REALITY of what Apple delivered. Please, please, PLEASE, find for us the "expectation" on this exhaustive list that is higher than what Apple delivered in iPhone production. You know, the expected numbers of iPhones produced that would make your assertion anywhere near accurate or truthful.

The best and worst Apple analysts—Q2 2014 edition
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt — April 24, 2014: 4:59 AM ET
The amateurs beat the pros again this quarter, but not by much.

Find any? You won't. Because your assertion simply isn't true.

You do realize that Apple has ALWAYS exceeded their financial guidance both on revenues and profits as well as estimated iPhones to be produced, don't you? Occasionally, some Wall Street Analysts over zealously guesstimate those numbers, but even then, Apple has usually beaten the street. This last Quarter, Apple blew every prediction away. . . by several million iPhones. . . And most more than a BILLION dollars.

What source do YOU have for your claim "they've never had to use the excuse that they didn't have enough supply to meet the demand" because I can find at least ten statements by Apple CEOs Tim Cook and Steve Jobs in their Quarterly Financial Conference Call transcripts where each has said EXACTLY that, "We could have sold lots more, had we been able to meet demand." It's been a chronic problem. . . Increasing production capacity to keep the flow into the retail adequately supplied.

In the quarter before last, Apple was able to sell 51 million iPhones even though the most in demand version, the gold iPhone 5S, was in very short supply, at times more that six weeks back ordered. To quote Tim Cook, "We could have sold a lot more, had we been able to get them produced faster, but the lines were already working at capacity."

So, why the heck does anyone need a smartphone that is only meagerly faster than even the lowest spec smartphone out there? A smartphone doesn't need to be real fast to get the needs of the user met. How fast does a smartphone need to be when a person is texting, or talking on the phone feature, or just viewing Facebook or doing search or e-mail or Twitter, or even viewing a movie? Some features are just meant as marketing poo.

For you, perhaps. However, for your movie. . . The iPhone can handle that movie without a stutter, something I've heard about on the Android phones. Now, do it in a streaming movie to your HD TV in 1080 HD . . . Or, the other reason for high speed. Games. I'm not a game player but the iPhone is the number one game platform in the world.

Data suggests iOS may be the most popular gaming platform of all time

How about editing high definition video. . . Possible on the iPhone and iPad because of native Apple 64 bit APIs that app developers can take advantage of.

I know. . . according to the wisdom of Adorno, that's no significant advantage.

[adorno]

A lot of things are relative to how one wants to view the numbers, especially those from Apple.

"Apple sold 43.7 million iPhones, down 14 percent compared to the previous quarter but up 17 percent on the year-ago quarter. Revenues from the iPhone are down 20 percent compared to the last quarter but up 14 percent on the year-ago quarter."

YoY quarters don't look so bad, but, in the tech world, a year can be a lifetime, and the more important trend can be what's happening on a quarter-by-quarter basis, and in that regard, Apple's sales are not that impressive, and in fact, they could be worrying Apple. The last few quarters have shown a downward trend in the numbers for iPads and iPhones, and respectively, the earnings from those devices.

"Moving on to the iPad, Apple sold 16.35 million tablets – iPads and iPad mini tablets – down 37 percent on the previous quarter and down 16 percent on the year-ago quarter. However, it still represents the fifth best quarter for the iPad, behind Q1 14, Q1 13, Q2 13, and Q3 12.

iPad revenues are down 34 percent compared to the previous quarter, and down 13 percent compared to the year-ago quarter.

Analysts were expecting iPad sales in the region of 19.4 million, so the actual figure falls well short."

The biggest problem for Apple is that, tablets, in general, are no longer setting the world on fire, and with the iPads having been the best-seller for a few years, they have a big worry in their hands, where iPhones will have to carry a bigger load of the burden to keep Apple revenue and profits at high levels. That ain't gonna happen, and iPads are now, just another "also-ran" device. iPhones are no longer the "must have" smartphone, and they too will soon become the "also ran" smartphone.

After the iPhone and iPad, Apple doesn't have very much going for it, and other than the Apple-cult that will keep Apple alive for a bunch more years, Apple will soon become another RIM or Palm.

When it comes to Apple's future...

Your imagination is not letting you see things clearly, and the TREND shows that ALL of Apple's products are going downhill. The only good spin for Apple, is the comparison between same quarters for consecutive years. So, Apple could show growth in this quarter versus the same quarter last year, but, consecutive quarters show a decline in all of Apple's products. A downhill trend in consecutive quarters is a very big problem for any company, and no amount of spin is going to change that fact.

YoY comparisons are good indicators, but, even they aren't that great for some of Apple's products, with iPhones being the only product that showed good YoY results.

But, one can never forsake the trend that shows a decline, from quarter to quarter, in all devices that Apple makes and sells. Apple set the "standard" for great quarter to quarter rise in sales, especially with iPhones, but, if those great sales were great bragging points for Apple then, then, the sales decline in quarter to quarter, has to be of great concern to Apple and to stockholders.

Can't have it both ways.

[Swordmaker]

"Apple sold 43.7 million iPhones, down 14 percent compared to the previous quarter but up 17 percent on the year-ago quarter. Revenues from the iPhone are down 20 percent compared to the last quarter but up 14 percent on the year-ago quarter."

Look, Adorno, No financial analyst worth anything compares consecutive quarter-to-quarter because seasons are different. You just compared the CHRISTMAS quarter to the post christmas quarter and tried to come to a conclusion on CONSUMER numbers... idiocy. You can only compare year over year. That IS spin, based on twaddle. Analyst take wild-eyed guesses. . . and those you quoted were more wild-eyed than usual, and ignored Apple's own guidance which was based on what the company was planning. Why? Who knows? I am an educated as an economist. . . with a minor in FINANCE. YOU obviously are not. Quit trying to spin Apple into being in trouble. It won't work.Every other metric in Apple's financials for last quarter was a record breaker and you are cherry picking one of two that was negative. The other was iPod sales, which are being subsumed onto iPhone and iPad sales.

You also have to look at what was happening in the previous year ago quarter to see what historically was occurring. A year ago, iPads were being stocked into the sales channel. Not so this year. Business Insider states, quoting Apple's CEO Tim Cook in the Apple Financial Conference call:

"For last quarter in particular, he said the company reduced its iPad channel inventory compared to the same quarter last year, so sales were actually in line with the high end of Apple's internal expectations.

Speaking on the iPad business as a whole, Cook made some really interesting points to remain bullish. First, he said the iPad is Apple's fastest-growing product in the company's history. Apple has sold 210 million of them so far, which is almost twice as many iPhones Apple sold in the same period of time.

Cook also made a strong case for the iPad in the enterprise market. He cited one study that said 91% of tablets activated in the enterprise are iPads.

Now, Adorno, you can go on ignoring the time-honored, proper way to analyze financial statements by comparing quarters against the previous year's similar quarter, or you can do what you did, compare against the previous completely dis-similar sales of the immediate previous quarter to obfuscate and cry wolf, or you can be honest and do it correctly. I quote you where you state the truth "YoY quarters don't look so bad. . ."—an interesting way you comment on the 2nd best quarter of ANY COMPANY in history and bettered only by Apple itself; talk about left-handed compliments! "don't look so bad", my ass!—but then you proceed to do the obfuscation with the false comparisons with unlike seasonality. . . comparing a heavy shopping holiday season with a non-holiday season, and try to make a serious conclusion from those mis-applied data, with "the more important trend can be what's happening on a quarter-by-quarter basis, and in that regard, Apple's sales are not that impressive, and in fact, they could be worrying Apple." That is spinning. In fact, that is false.

YoY comparisons are good indicators, but, even they aren't that great for some of Apple's products, with iPhones being the only product that showed good YoY results.

Then you go on with a flat out lie. Macintosh computers are at their highest sales in history. Yet you flat out lie. Why? What point are you trying to distort? Mac Market share is at the highest it has ever been. I repeat, no financial economist looks at quarter over quarter sequentially. They are useless data because of seasonality due to sales trends, tax due dates, and a host of other seasonal effects. You are spinning. The only trends that are useful are year-over-year in the long run when you are talking about companies the size of Apple and markets the size of Smart phones and tablets.

You want to talk about imaginations, you are the one who is imagining things, not me. You are the one having to make up ways to do comparisons that are not mainstream to get the results YOU want, to make your argument. . . and to hide the real facts.

As you so saliently said: "A lot of things are relative to how one wants to view the numbers, especially those from Apple." You want to believe that Apple is in trouble, so you look to see how you can spin the data. You had to compare unlike quarters to do it.

I suggest you look at the chart on Statistica — Global Apple iPhone sales from 3rd quarter 2007 to 2nd quarter 2014 (in million units), keeping in mind that Apple's Fiscal Year and its fourth Quarter ends on the last Saturday in September, to really see how irrational you are in trying to compare quarter-over-quarter and expecting to make any kind of rational conclusion based on numbers of product sold or financial results. It is just meaningless.

Incidentally, if you want to worry about a company, you should be worrying about Samsung, LG, and Nokia, not Apple:

Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, Q1 2014   (Preliminary Results, Units in Millions)

Vendor	1Q14 Shipment Volumes	1Q14 Market Share	1Q13 Shipment Volumes	1Q13 Market Share	Year-Over-Year Change
Samsung	108.9	24.3%	109.3	25.3%	-0.3%
Nokia	50.5	11.3%	61.9	14.3%	-18.4%
Apple	43.7	9.7%	37.4	8.7%	16.8%
LG	16.0	3.6%	16.2	3.8%	-1.2%
Huawei	14.6	3.2%	10.9	2.5%	33.8%
Others	214.9	47.9%	196.1	45.4%	9.6%
Total	448.6	100.0%	431.8	100.0%	3.9%

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, April 30, 2014

Note:  Data are preliminary and subject to change. Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.

As you can see, Except Apple and Huwei, they ALL lost market share in quarterly year-over-year data! They should be worrying, not Apple. By-the-way. it came out in testimony and subpoenaed testimony in last month's patent infringement trial that Samsung's vaunted 83 million "smartphones" shipped aren't so smart as 2/3rds of them aren't smartphones at all, but are instead low-end "feature phones," lacking some or all of the capabilities required to be considered smartphones such as the ability to download apps, connect to the internet, use WIFI, etc. That really reduces the numbers of the phones Samsung has been shipping they counted as "smartphones shipped" to under 30 million. All of Apple's phones are smartphones. Just more of Samsung's patterns of untruths.

[adorno]

Look, Adorno, No financial analyst worth anything compares consecutive quarter-to-quarter because seasons are different. You just compared the CHRISTMAS quarter to the post christmas quarter and tried to come to a conclusion on CONSUMER numbers... idiocy.

Look, you numbnut!

The technology industry is not like the hamburger joints industry, nor like the supermarket industry.

The technology industry is a very fast changing industry, and the quarter-by-quarter sales are huge indicators for how a particular tech company is doing, and could provide a pattern for how that company is beginning to fail.

iPad sales are down dramatically, and they've been a major part of the Apple strategy for growth. iPads are just an indicator for how the mobile industry is no longer setting the tech sector on fire, and even smartphones, in general, have been showing lackluster growth, and it's expected that all smartphones will soon have declining quarters and years. If the "post-PC" mantra had any validity, then, the post-mobile ear will be disastrous for the big players, including Apple. It's not just about how Apple had a declining quarter; it's about how saturation and maturation have set in, in the mobile industry.

Apple will be punished for their lack of diversity, when their only products have been the iPHone and the bigger iPhone known as the iPad.

I have not been wrong before about Apple, and I predicted over 2 years ago that Apple stock would drop more than $200 billion, and I'm predicting that they'll be losing at least another $100 billion in the next year. After that, it will take another 2-3 years for Apple stock to take a major dive, to a level closer to what HP is now. Apple will be a major takeover target in about 2-3 years.

The incremental adjustments to their current devices, won't continue to keep Apple riding so high. Apple's devices are not any better than what most of the competition has, and in fact, the competition has left Apple very far behind.

[Swordmaker]

Look, you numbnut!

LOL! The first refuge of the man without facts: devolve to ad hominem attack. Call your opponents names and fling insults. You don't know me. I provided linked information; you spout your unsupported opinion and make claims unsupported by anything. . . opinion flies in the face of history and proper analytic technique so that you can say negative things about the largest market cap company on earth. That's really brilliant, Adorno.

The technology industry is not like the hamburger joints industry, nor like the supermarket industry.

No it isn't, but you don't have a clue what you are talking about when you talk about comparing consecutive quarters, which is a financial and economic fallacy. But Apple does not compete in the low end, commodity phone market either. . . and the consumer electronic market is responsive to the seasonal purchases of the calendar and is NOT a steady market like fast-food or grocery stores with large swings of sales during certain specific cyclic seasons that are known and predictable. Try studying finance. . . the micro-changes in seasonal adjustments based on market forces, which you show you seem to have no clue about, that make comparing quarter to quarter changes in industries affected by such sales meaning less. An extreme example would be comparing fourth quarter sales against 1st quarter sales in the Christmas Tree companies. Meaningless.

The technology industry is a very fast changing industry, and the quarter-by-quarter sales are huge indicators for how a particular tech company is doing, and could provide a pattern for how that company is beginning to fail.

No, this is an industry dominated in one of its major markets by 2 year lock-in contracts, and in others by high initial cost. It's also a market in which people don't change devices like people change socks. They buy and keep their devices for an extended period, especially devices that are not locked to a specific carrier such as tablets that work on WIFI only. . . so the technology is not driven by "I have to upgrade to the latest and greatest as soon as it comes out!" but "Maybe I'll upgrade when my contract expires." or "When I get around to it, I'll buy the next model for myself/ my wife/my husband/my kids/my friend as a gift." There is no imperative to buy like food, gasoline, car parts, clothing, or other commodities.

I showed you that the three major players in smartphones other than Apple were in trouble Year-over-year, Samsung has had issues in the profit area in the last two quarters, showing growth drops, yet YOU focus on the profit leader claiming doom and gloom based on NOTHING but your wishful thinking and hatred for the company. You have posted NOTHING for proof. . . except Quarter over previous quarter which is the sign of an AMATEUR investor. . . who knows nothing about what he is doing.

YOU are claiming that Apple is in trouble because they did not overtop their previous quarter iPad sales. . . but the fact is that quarter was a record breaking quarter for iPad sales. It was not expected to make another record breaking sales in the next quarter which is always the slowest sales quarter of the year!

"iPad sales in the December quarter (2013) were the highest ever recorded by Apple at 26 million, up 14% year over year and 85% sequentially.— Forbes Magazine analyst Chuck Jones, April 14, 2014 "Apple's March quarter nothing to get excited about" in his completely WRONG analysis of the soon to be released 2nd Quarter Apple results.

Then there is this gem!

"I have not been wrong before about Apple. . ."—the perfect Adorno.

That is absolutely HILLARIOUS, Adorno! You were completely wrong in your post when you claimed that Apple was below it's own and Wall Streets expectations! Chuck Jones's article Forbes' article was one of them and he missed the iPhone results by over six million, and his financials were even greater howlers! YOU WERE WRONG!

The emerging markets are not where Apple's future lies. Apple cannot compete against the low price leaders, that being Android phones and Windows phones, and a lot of the cheap Chinese stuff that's coming out in the next few months and years. Apple is stuck with their cult followers, who are willing to pay any price to keep their religion alive. —Adorno being wrong as usual

ROTFLMAO!!!! Adorno speaking ex cathedra makes the unilateral claim that emerging markets won'r want to have anything to do with Apple iPhones. . . except that isn't the case. . .

Apple Beats Samsung as Favorite Brand in Emerging Markets,
Even Though They Can't Afford It
By Mark Milian Mar 13, 2014 1:46 PM

People want what they can't have. For many of those living in emerging markets, that's an iPhone.

Apple is the most desirable mobile-phone brand among inhabitants of emerging markets, according to a report from marketing firm Upstream and researcher Ovum. In the study conducted this year, Apple edged out Samsung Electronics, which was the leader in a separate survey by Upstream last year.

Samsung saw a slight decline in its share of developing-market consumers who favor its phones from 32 percent to 29 percent, according to Upstream. Apple's share jumped dramatically from 21 percent to where Samsung was last year.

The iPhone 5c, geared toward price-sensitive consumers including those in emerging markets, came out in September. As part of that effort, Apple has stepped up its marketing efforts in those countries, putting the company's name front and center.

While that may help elevate the brand, it hasn't necessarily translated into a spate of sales for the 5c. Most countries don't sell phones at a discount with carrier contracts like in the U.S., and at $549, the iPhone 5c is still too expensive for most of the developing world. Those who can afford it often just pay a little bit more for the premium 5s — available in gold, which Chinese status-seekers love.

Without creating a much cheaper iPhone, Apple will have trouble reaching consumers in emerging countries, according to Francis Sideco, an analyst at IHS. Call it the iPhone paradox.

The brand halo for Apple is a good thing, but it won't help the company overtake Samsung in sales, at least not immediately. The South Korean electronics giant is the world's largest maker of smartphones partly because it makes low-margin, cheap handsets in addition to Galaxy products. The bright side for Apple is that the new emerging middle classes may switch to iPhones when they can afford them, but industrialization takes time.

In the Upstream study this year, the question posed to the 4,504 consumers in Brazil, China, India, Nigeria and Vietnam was slightly different from last year, as was the emerging markets targeted. In last year's study, people in countries including Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia were asked specifically to disregard price. However, Upstream said the two surveys were analogous.

The chart above shows how perceptions about the top five aspirational brands in the developing world have changed since last year. The bottom three — all of which have products on display this week at the CeBIT technology conference in Hanover, Germany — are working on low-end phones aimed at emerging markets. Taiwan's HTC is slowly building up its brand. For Nokia and BlackBerry, the picture isn't as rosy.

Show us the prescient shorts you made on Apple which made you rich. I bet you can't because you don't put your money where your big mouth is.

Apple will be punished for their lack of diversity, when their only products have been the iPHone and the bigger iPhone known as the iPad.

Another howler. Do you know how many years people have been predicting such punishment. . . including the years in which Apple had the most growth of any stock in history? Punishment for the same reasons and others. You still don't know a thing about what makes Apple tick.

Apple's devices are not any better than what most of the competition has, and in fact, the competition has left Apple very far behind.

Please list the competitions' phone or tablet that has 64 bit processors, 64 bit operating systems, 64 bit apps, and the competitions' products with faster processor results on benchmarks and graphics. How about the competitions' devices that have working fingerprint sensors for activation? Name ANY competitors' mobile products that are used more on the internet. Don't forget to provide links to your proofs, Adorno. Mere larger size screens, or additional resolution beyond the capability of the human eye to discern the pixels, are NOT proof of being advanced. So prove your assertion these devices are far ahead of Apple's products. The reviewers disagree with you.

When your done with that, try to find a Windows PC that can compete with the latest MacPro in the same price range. . . Try to even build one to similar parts and specs and meet the price point. . . so far, no one has succeeded.

[adorno]

LOL! The first refuge of the man without facts: devolve to ad hominem attack. Call your opponents names and fling insults. You don't know me.

Hey! Sorry for the late response. I know you've been waiting with bated breath for my response. But, I've been out of commission for a few days with a very bad flu. But, here I am now.

So, you accuse me of devolving to issuing insults, but, I only respond in kind. You might not have noticed it, but, when people are used to being insulting, it comes natural to them and they won't even recall doing it.

My "insult" was in response to your insult, where you referred to my post as being "idiocy", which is an indirect way of calling somebody an "idiot". So, if you are willing to take back your insult, I won't call you a "numbnut", and I'll just refer to you as a dimwit. Deal???

But, I'm not going to go around in circles with you, and I'll just issue the same prediction which I have been making about Apple for a few years, and which have started to be proven correct.

For example, I predicted over 2 years ago that Apple's stock would lose more than $200 billion in a year or less, and the stock went and proved me correct. I also predicted that growth in sales would slow down and then start to come down. Sales have stopped growing, and soon, iPhones will start losing sales. With that, Apple stock will drop another $200 billion in another 2 years. When they do that, Apple stock will be worth less than Google and Microsoft. And, Apple will start going back to what it's really worth, and that might be way below $200 billion. Apple stock is a balloon on its own, and will burst in about 2-3 years. There is no way that a company that is dependent on a single product, the iPHone, is worth as much as it's valued at now.

YOu can go and show all the glowing reports and all the graphs and charts you wish, but, the fact is that, Apple is not worth what it's valued at.

I'll be going back to this discussion in about 2 years, perhaps a bit more, to shout very loudly, "I TOLD YOU SO!".