Can someone explain to me how apple is apparently the most profitable company in the world...

normies want the cool stuff
normies want something that works
normies like flashy "best on paper" tech

i had a iphone 5s, then upgraded to a 6s... never had a single problem with it

>muh battery life

i like how i never had to change any settings on it - i was happy to pay the premium...

i have my PC which i can change as i like and upgrade but you cant deny iphones are fucking solid... not the best, but good enough for eveerything

because of marketing and growth hacking

They increase the price of every new phone, and computer, by a ton with each new one they put out. In a few years an iPhone will be $2000. Normies think Apple devices are a luxury item.

kek

I could cash out 1% of my crypto portfolio and buy it. How is 1.4k for the lowest specced version cheap?

I owned a Google Nexus 7 tablet, fucking battery on the thing would go out every 24-36 hrs even if you barely used the thing. It eventually got fixed with a firmware update but it took 6-9 months. I gave up my iPhone for a Galaxy S6, and again more fucking battery problems, honestly Android is shit. It's not worth being able to tinker on the inside and change skins and other silly BS just to deal with so many problems.

>things poor people say
I have never seen an affluent person of high status using W*ndows lol

There's extremely high competition in electricity, food etc.
Computers are 20'th century items and there are less capacities and they overcame competition.
(In fact food is also centralized that way, you just don't know the names of the head companies, see Nestle etc.)

Excellent mass marketing, huge sales numbers, and a bit of planned obsolescence.

I think the draw of Android has mostly been that you could get the same or better specs for cheaper, and sometimes even get new features before apple. But as other phone manufacturers, Samsung especially, cement themselves as premium that price gap is starting to fade.

planed obsolescence is made by customers

once android premium phones become commonplace, we'll see price competition and apple will be forced to charge less

I'm using a mac, idiot. It's still a money grab.

Not really, it's the way they make their products. They come out with new, better phones on a regular basis which makes the older ones obsolete.
You could absolutely still buy and use an iphone 4. But it would be slow and not work with new software.

alright, you pass the poverty test

> apple
> relevant after jobs died

I fucking hate how the nazis running apple treat app devs.
Gotta renew signing certificates and shit, gotta use shitty tooling, etc.
I hate them and want them to die.

Yea just like Disney is no longer relevant right

that'll work for 10 years at least

and Apple takes 30% :^)

Marketing and I guess okay tech that fucks you less in the ass than the utterly sodomitic Micro$haft and Goolag.

They are a marketing company, that's what they've been for a long time now. And it works.

You cannot compete otherwise with only selling a few outdated computers and overpriced iPhones on a closed system that does very little for their users. The sierra and past versions are just closed linux boxes, very well curated by a dedicated fan base, but nothing special. The apps that Apple actually makes, Xcode, Messenger, all the other shit, are complete and utter garbage. I avoid using them like the plague.

It's a scam, really, but because it's hip you have to use a macbook and have an iPhone in some segments of the workforce, plus if you're an impressionable teen.

Some people, because of their position or because they can blow off money, need to showcase status, and having an iPhone is the simplest way to do that.

>and a bit of planned obsolescence

If that was a relevant factor then Microsoft (does anyone remember RROD)and Samsung would be the most valuable companies in the world

How is the iPod not an mp3player?

Haha grandpa

It's not a mp3 player

It's an EXPERIENCE :)))))

They have the biggest margins because people aren't aware how much money they are actually paying for the devices.

Most people are on 2 year contracts, and don't really know how much they paid for their phone. They only care about which phone is best for them, and for the average normie the iPhone is the easiest phone to use while still retaining all the features they think they need.

They are selling you an imaginary status not just a product.

People who buy "apple" pay 60% of the price of for the brand.

Apple products are ridiculously expensive and the whole "i" eco system is shit.

Most people are just brain dead sheep.

Apple used to have top notch hardware but that's not true anymore.

You know that when they removed the 3,5mm jack and people still bought their ugly shit phones that people would buy anything.

I wonder what Apple will be selling when people can't take on more debt to buy their shitty products.

Apple doesn't break down constantly, forcing you to fix it. Not everyone's time is worthless enough to spend fixing a badly designed computer or phone, like Windows and Android. So Apple sells itself at a premium for saving you time.

Apple is a Religion/Cult thats why they can charge whatever they want.

A cult following and huge margin on all there products

>Production costs of their shitty phones is probably not even $400
>Sell it for over $1K

There is only one type of Apple products, you can't enter the market of Apple brand products, do you understand?
Almost anyone can make diapers, hamburgers and chili-sauce, but nobody else can make OG Apple brand products.

tl;dr Literally MUH BRAND

...

they used to have a suberb quality to all other companies in mp3, phones and laptops and still have good quality

people are not stupid they buy quality, you might survive 5 years with bad but 20 years requires good quality n people want that

I worked there for 5 years. Steve died just after I joined, it was all downhill from there. Don’t buy their stock after next year.

It's a little over $100 for the newest ones. They own the whole supply chain, so they can dictate prices. Chink labor, plus no worry about fucking the environment up. They haven't had any good new ideas, but maybe something innovative will come save them. Otherwise they are coasting downhill after Jobs

Cult of Apple

I agree with you, user. Apple is overpriced shit.

Branding markups.

People shell out twice as much for the same PC hardware because it's "muh Apple" and it's "more reliable" (read: their OS is a restricted baby gloves closed box that makes it harder to do anything with and thus get a virus). They still cut that fat profit.

The phones are in a similar vein but less overpriced compared to their competition.

Because they put more thought into their products, making them better.

>Is it because their markups are so huge?
Yes.
The iphone costs $357 to make but iSheep will buy it for $1000
With that kind of brand loyalty they're free to overcharge out the ass.

My mom is so stupid she thinks she got her iPhone for free because it was on a contract

None of my android/winfag stuff has broken down unless i fucked with it. Get cucked.

I know Apple may get a bad rap here because of /g/ refugees, but Apple should seriously be studied in every business class for the next half a century. They are simply the most successful business in the world.

Do you know why? It has nothing to do with the physical computers. It has everything to do with OS X. As it turns out, people like having an intuitive interface to interact with their computer that is not prone to errors, doesn't pop up shitty "Wizards" that don't do anything, doesn't redirect you to a worthless help page on the internet created by some Pajeet that does nothing if you encounter a problem, etc, etc, etc. The success of Apple simply would not have been possible had they not created the best operating system in the world, which is OS X. Everything else, followed from that.

Function and ease of use and aesthetic design, also, though you could say those are a facet of marketing. Still, if the products were difficult to use and ugly then nobody would buy.

Tbh Apple is pretty good at security and privacy, and don't throw their customers under the bus.

Here's part of the reason:

bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-07/offshore-leaks-depict-apple-s-quiet-shift-to-island-of-jersey

Not really.
t. former Power Mac G5 owner

If you want a real answer, read the biography written about steve jobs.
it goes into a decent amount of detail about major moves in the company and how they built so many successful projects.
it's a combination of timing new product releases, marketing wank built off of previous generations of actually decent tech, a constant search for the next iteration, building massive ecosystems around their products, a fair bit of lucky timing, great packaging and ease of use, and then shifting to mass market appeal and cutting out massive amounts of functionality but maintaining the image of "professional" "high end" and "status symbol"
they also made a big move to reduce inventory as much as possible so they had quick turn around time from production to sale, which leads to common shortages which in most cases simply adds to the notion of exclusivity, and also essentially makes their physical goods much more liquid so they are better at converting them into cash, hence their stupidly large fortune.
seriously, give the book a read, it's pretty long, but If you really want to learn about apple, it's a great resource

We literally all use windows here, iphone maybe 60%, but there is no status from either, nobody gives a shit.

lel I have a friend like that.

No wonder their China plants have suicide nets. You cant even fucking kill yourself out of the misery of working 20 hour days.

the less prone to viruses thing is mostly because despite the prevalence of the apple brand world wide, most computers (phones are a bit of a different story) are still windows machines. also, windows absolutely dominates the industrial level computer sector in terms of servers and other tech, so if you were trying to write a really malicious virus (that did more than just steal individual user's info), would you go after the 10 or so percent of total computers that were mostly used by individuals, or would you go after the other 90 or so percent of all computers in the world that handle the vast majority of computational power and traffic?
the answer is pretty clear. that doesn't mean there isn't malware for mac os, it's just overall less prevalent.
hell, when i recently helped some family out with their macs i installed antivirus first thing and found numerous bugs, trojans, and malware after the first scan. god knows how long they had them

They simultaneously sell a lot of products and maintain high margins. Tons of students, middle class and upper class people buy their laptops even though they're ridiculously expensive, and everyone buys their phones.

You didn't appreciate that fine machine?

Apple is based af but is slowly becoming irrelevant due to bean counting and "market research". I am quite impressed by this iPhone X though. It's the first one in a while that Steve himself would've liked.

You don't think it's relevant that msoft and samsung are among the most valuable companies in the world?
Also I'm not talking about functional obsolescence, I'm talking in terms of their product line/how frequently they release new products that are superior to old products.

The problem is nerds make Operating Systems, and nerds like to tinker. So they don't mind making half-working products, because they enjoy fixing them.
Steve Jobs reined in the nerds and made sure the product worked right. Normal nerd CEOs don't mind a choppy software experience and sell junk like Bill Gates.

Normal people just want the computer to do its job, and not do what the programmer should have done -- make a product that just works.

Magical!

microsoft makes the best.

I approve this message

Is having an Iphone actually seen as a status thing in this day an age?

If I see someone with a $50 android I assume they are a poorfag. But anyone with an iphone or samsung isnt impressive. I wouldnt second glance someone with an Iphone or think they are rich.

This.
Erstaz goods

this expands upon above

Un ironically this - it's how they differentiate. Now of course, only a fucktard cares about "experience", but if a fucktard has money you might as well take it from them with their consent.

Apple are a "end to end brand" that means that they can have consistency in their product interface, it's not like the bad old days when your VCR and your TV required you to spend an hour fiddling with each remote control to understand how the advanced features worked. Of course Apple don't offer "advanced" features - that's actually an internal process that has saved them bazillions of dollars in development (they un ironcially make less useful products - because it makes the interface simpler but also saves them developing complex software/hardware - it is dollar signs, not semiotic intuitiveness that made them ditch styluses and go for touch technology).

People also become loyal to a brand. Apple's particular brand of Charismatic Narcissism propelled themselves to a status symbol

In certain segments of society, yes.
>I wouldnt second glance someone with an Iphone or think they are rich.
It's not about income, it's about the image they project - they are embodying the "Apple Brand" or the "Apple customer" whatever the fuck that means today - you could glean it from their ads I'm sure.

Same reason people who never skateboard wear "Thrasher Magazine" t-shirts.

lmfao

Owning a Vertu phone differentiates peasants, insignificant lifeforms from the elite of this world.

>Live Extraordinary

m.youtube.com/watch?v=_dk_vDQm2KQ

>The Billionaire's phone

m.youtube.com/watch?v=uDeNMG9yrhc

vertu.com/

m.androidcentral.com/vertu-constellation

cnet.com/products/vertu-constellation-2017/preview/

This is like buying a Rolls Royce, taking it to Jose's garage and getting metallic green paint, a gold package, and 26 inch rims.

They have like 20% net profit margins..

women basically, they spend money like retards.
just look at luxury brands, their stores are full of junk in the highest rental areas that nobody buys, yet they still make huge margins